Method for managing buyer transactions and settlements using communication network between computers, and method for relaying information following buyer consumption trends to the buyer

ABSTRACT

It is an object of the present invention to enable a buyer to collectively manage information related to a variety of commercial transactions performed by the buyer as well as to the settlements for these transactions. The calendar server  25  supplies a calendar screen to a buyer system  3  that is used by the buyer  1 . This calendar screen has electronic invoices addressed to the buyer  1 , which are issued by the supplier system  7 , and electronic deposit/withdrawal detailed statement of the buyer&#39;s deposit account, which are issued by a banking system  13 , pasted in the spaces for the relevant dates. When the buyer  1  selects an arbitrary invoice on this calendar screen and inputs his or her approval of this invoice, an account transfer telegraphic message for payment of this invoice is automatically sent to the banking system  13 . The calendar server  25  manages the status of each invoice (“opened”, “payment request in progress”, “paid”), and notifies the supplier system  7  and banking system  13  of this invoice status. The calendar server  25  also supplements news such as advertisements which are sent by the supplier system  7  and banking system  13 , and so forth, selects news following the buyer&#39;s consumption trends, and pastes this news in the spaces on the calendar screen which pertain to dates that slightly precede dates on which buyer consumption other forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0001] This is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 10/258,734,filed Oct. 28, 2002.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present invention relates to a technology for automaticallyperforming commercial or non-commercial transactions, settlementsrelating to these transactions, and information processing relating tocommercial or non-commercial advertisements, using the computer systemsof the parties involved in these transactions, and of a bank, and soforth, as well as a communication network between computers.

[0004] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0005] Systems are in use in which electronic data is exchanged, over acommunication network, between the computer system of a supplier(company or government administration office) that supplies a product orservice and the computer system of a buyer (individual or corporation)that purchases the product or service, such that information processingof the various transactions performed between the supplier and buyer, aswell as settlements relating to such transactions (such as a payment ofthe charge for the product or service, a payment of a public utilitiescharge, or a tax payment, for example) are automatically executed inaccordance with this exchange of information.

[0006] According to the prior art, the buyer is not provided withautomation means serving to automatically collectively manageinformation relating to the arrival of invoices (information) from thesupplier to the buyer, to the times for payment by the buyer, and to thedeposits and withdrawals to and from the bank account of the buyer, andso forth. Consequently, the buyer is required to store and arrange thisinformation by himself so as to not forget this information.

[0007] Further, transaction detailed statements and invoices arecommonly sent from the supplier to the buyer by electronic mail.However, it is a pain for the buyer to have to search through a greatvariety of electronic mails received from various people in order tofind the detailed statement(s) and/or invoice(s), of a specifictransaction.

[0008] Also, according to the prior art, when the buyer approves aninvoice, money is automatically paid out from the buyer's bank accountto the supplier, meaning that the approval of the invoice and thecorresponding settlement processing do not progress together in realtime or with the appropriate timing.

[0009] Meanwhile also, based on the prior art, the supplier is notprovided with automation means for automatically confirming, inreal-time or with the appropriate timing, information relating towhether or not the buyer has seen the invoice, the time by which thebuyer should make the payment, whether or not the buyer has approved thedetailed statement of the invoice, whether or not the buyer has made thepayment, and the time the payment was made. Hence, the supplier mustdivide up the substantial labor involved in order to manage and arrangea multiplicity of transaction information to thereby ascertain the cashflow.

[0010] The supplier also sends commercial or non-commercialadvertisements to an unspecified multiplicity of buyers through themedium of newspaper and magazine space, and so forth, leaflets in trainsand stations, direct mail, Internet home pages, and other media.However, the proportion of buyers that show an interest in suchadvertising is not particularly high. Thus, in advertising, the factthat better results require proportionally high costs is also a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] It is an object of the present invention to enable a buyer tocollectively manage various information relating to a variety ofcommercial transactions performed by the buyer as well as to thecorresponding settlements, on a GUI (Graphical User Interface) screen ofthe buyer's computer system.

[0012] It is another object of the present invention to enable the buyerto automatically perform settlement of an invoice in real-time or withthe appropriate timing by approving an invoice sent from a supplier onthe GUI screen of the buyer's computer system.

[0013] It is yet another object of the present invention to enable thesupplier to collectively manage various information relating to avariety of commercial transactions performed by the supplier as well asto the corresponding settlements, on a GUI screen of the supplier'scomputer system, to thereby make a contribution toward facilitating anunderstanding of the cash flow.

[0014] It is yet another object of the present invention to enable afinancial institution that handles the bank account of the buyer orsupplier to collectively manage various information relating tosettlements concerning a variety of commercial transactions performed bythe supplier or buyer, on a GUI screen of the computer system of thefinancial institution, to thereby make a contribution towardfacilitating the management of settlement processing.

[0015] It is yet another object of the present invention to make itpossible to provide the buyer with commercial or non-commercialadvertisements by choosing an appropriate time at which there is a highprobability of the buyer being interested in these advertisements.

[0016] The method for managing buyer transactions and settlementsaccording to a first aspect of the present invention comprises the stepsof: receiving an electronic invoice for a buyer from a supplier system;receiving electronic deposit/withdrawal detailed statement relating tothe funds of the buyer, from a banking system; preparing a GUI screendisplaying a calendar; pasting a mark indicating the electronic invoicefrom the supplier system, and a mark indicating the electronicdeposit/withdrawal detailed statement from the banking system, on thecalendar of the GUI screen; and supplying the GUI screen, which displaysthe calendar that has the marks of the invoice and thedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement pasted thereon, to a buyer system.

[0017] The computer system for managing buyer transactions andsettlements according to a second aspect of the present inventioncomprises: a computer program for performing processing to receive anelectronic invoice for a buyer from a supplier system; a computerprogram for performing processing to receive electronicdeposit/withdrawal detailed statement relating to the funds of thebuyer, from a banking system; a computer program for performingprocessing to prepare a GUI screen displaying a calendar; a computerprogram for performing processing to paste a mark indicating theelectronic invoice from the supplier system, and a mark indicating theelectronic deposit/withdrawal detailed statement from the bankingsystem, on the calendar of the GUI screen; and a computer program forperforming processing to transmit the GUI screen, which displays thecalendar that has the marks of the invoice and the deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement pasted thereon, to a buyer system.

[0018] The method for supplying news to a buyer in accordance with athird aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: preparinga buyer schedule having dates; receiving news from a supplier system;selecting news relating to the buyer schedule thus prepared from thenews received; determining a notification date for the selected news onthe basis of the dates of the buyer schedule to which the selected newsrelates; preparing a GUI screen displaying a calendar; pasting a mark,which indicates the selected news, in the space for the notificationdate on the calendar of the GUI screen; and supplying the GUI screen,which displays the calendar that has the mark for the selected newspasted thereon, to a buyer system.

[0019] The computer system for supplying news to the buyer according toa fourth aspect of the present invention comprises: a computer programfor performing processing to prepare a buyer schedule having dates; acomputer program for performing processing to receive news from asupplier system; a computer program for performing processing to selectnews related to the buyer schedule thus prepared, from the newsreceived; a computer program for performing processing to determine anotification date for the selected news on the basis of the dates of thebuyer schedule to which the selected news relates; a computer programfor performing processing to prepare a GUI screen displaying a calendar;a computer program for performing processing to paste a mark, whichindicates the selected news, in the space for the notification date onthe calendar of the GUI screen; and a computer program for performingprocessing to transmit the GUI screen, which displays the calendar thathas the mark for the selected news pasted thereon, to a buyer system.

[0020] According to the present invention, the term “invoice” is used tomean not only an invoice but also a document that are not an invoice butwhose a invoice detailed statement(s), such as each of the invoiceamount, can be read therefrom, namely a transaction statement, astatement of account, or statement of delivery, and the like, forexample. The invoice amount can be positive (when the buyer pays outmoney) or negative (when the buyer receives money).

[0021] According to the present invention, the term “deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement” is used to mean a document from which factsregarding a deposit or withdrawal to or from a bank account, as well asthe corresponding invoice amount, can be read.

[0022] According to the present invention, the term “buyer” is used in abroad sense, that is, to mean not only a subject that purchases aproduct or service, but also subjects that perform by themselvesfinancial acts of any kind that involve monetary movements, as well asthe recipients of such financial acts by another company.

[0023] According to the present invention, the term “supplier” is usedin a broad sense, that is, to mean not only a subject that supplies aproduct or service to the “buyer”, but also subjects that perform bythemselves financial acts of any kind that involve monetary movements,with respect to the “buyer”, as well as the recipients of such financialacts by the “buyer”.

[0024] According to the present invention, the term “bank” is used in abroad sense, that is, to mean not only a bank, but also organizationsthat are not banks but are capable of handling the movements of funds ofthe supplier or buyer. “Bank”, as used in the present invention, mayalso indicate a securities company or post office, or similar, forexample.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall constitution of themanagement system for information relating to transactions andsettlements, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the flow of electronic data inthe processing performed by the invoice management section 27 and theaccounts management section 29 of the calendar server 25;

[0027]FIG. 3 shows an example of a monthly calendar screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3;

[0028]FIG. 4 shows an example of a weekly calendar screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3;

[0029]FIG. 5 shows an example of a daily calendar screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3;

[0030]FIG. 6 shows an example of an invoice list screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3;

[0031]FIG. 7 shows an example of an invoice detailed statement screendisplayed by the buyer system 3;

[0032]FIG. 8 shows an example of a bank account electronic passbookscreen which the calendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3;

[0033]FIG. 9 shows an example of a deposit/withdrawal schedule settingscreen which the calendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3;

[0034]FIG. 10 shows an example of an invoice list screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the supplier system 7;

[0035]FIG. 11 shows an example of an invoice list screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to a banking system 13 or 15;

[0036]FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process flow that summarizes theoverall process flow of the system according to this embodiment;

[0037]FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow that summarizes (7)deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automatic classificationprocessing, (8) deposit/withdrawal schedule automatic settingprocessing, (9) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automatic remomalprocessing, (10) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automaticnotification processing, and (11) bank account electronic passbookprocessing, which are performed by the calendar server 25;

[0038]FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of (4) deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement automatic pasting processing performed by thecalendar server 25, which processing constitutes one part of the overallprocessing shown in FIG. 13;

[0039]FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing the flow of (1) invoiceregistration processing and (5) invoice automatic pasting processingperformed by the calendar server 25, which processing constitutes onepart of the overall processing shown in FIG. 13;

[0040]FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of (2) and (6) which arenamely invoice opening processing and payment request notificationprocessing respectively, as well as (3) settlement invoice removalprocessing, which are performed by the calendar server 25, whichprocessing constitutes one part of the overall processing shown in FIG.13;

[0041]FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of (7) deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement automatic classification processing and (8)deposit/withdrawal schedule automatic setting processing, which areperformed by the calendar server 25, which processing constitutes onepart of the processing shown in FIG. 14;

[0042]FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the flow of (9) deposit/withdrawalschedule removal processing, and (10) deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement automatic notification processing, which are performed by thecalendar server 25, which processing constitutes one part of theprocessing shown in FIG. 14;

[0043]FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the flow of (11) bank accountelectronic passbook processing, which is performed by the calendarserver 25, which processing constitutes one part of the processing shownin FIG. 14;

[0044]FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a process flow that summarizesanother overall operation which the system of this embodiment is capableof performing when the supplier is a securities company;

[0045]FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a process flow that summarizes yetanother overall operation which the system of this embodiment is capableof performing when the supplier is a loans company;

[0046]FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing the constitution of thetransaction and settlement management system according to the presentinvention in a case where a factoring company is present as one kind ofsupplier;

[0047]FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a process flow that summarizes theoverall processing of the system of FIG. 22;

[0048]FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the overall constitution of thetransaction, settlement, and news management system according to thisembodiment;

[0049]FIG. 25 shows an example of a main screen displayed by the monthlyaccount management calendar, which a calendar display control section319 supplies to a buyer system 307;

[0050]FIG. 26 shows an example of a main screen displayed by the weeklyaccount management calendar;

[0051]FIG. 27 shows an example of a main screen displayed by the dailyaccount management calendar;

[0052]FIG. 28 shows an example of a main screen that shows the detailedstatement of a certain invoice;

[0053]FIG. 29 shows an example of a main screen for the selection of apayment account;

[0054]FIG. 30 shows an example of a main screen for confirming thepayment conditions;

[0055]FIG. 31 shows an example of a main screen displaying an electronicpassbook;

[0056]FIG. 32 shows an example of a main screen displaying a newscalendar;

[0057]FIG. 33 shows an example of a main screen displaying a weekly newscalendar;

[0058]FIG. 34 is an example of a main screen displaying a home pagewhich is related to certain news on the news calendar;

[0059]FIG. 35 shows an example of an event schedule registration screen;

[0060]FIG. 36 shows another example of an event schedule registrationscreen; and

[0061]FIG. 37 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed bya calendar server 309 to select and display news following buyerconsumption trends.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0062]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall constitution of thetransaction and settlement management system, according to an embodimentof the present invention.

[0063] As shown in FIG. 1, there is a buyer system 3, which is acomputer system used by a buyer (individual or corporation) 1 purchasinga product or service, and a supplier system 7, which is a computersystem used by a supplier (such as a private company or governmentadministration office) 5 supplying a product or service. There is also abanking system 13, which is a computer system used by a financialinstitution 9 that handles the deposit account of the buyer 1; and abanking system 15, which is a computer system used by a financialinstitution 11 that handles the deposit account of the supplier 5. Thebanking systems 13 and 15 can perform communications such as those formovements of funds (account transfers) between the deposit account ofthe buyer 1 and the deposit account of the supplier 5, via an interbanksettlement system 17. The buyer system 3 and supplier system 7 are bothable to communicate with the banking systems 13 and via an electronicbanking system such as an Internet banking system, for example.

[0064] There is also a server system 25 which is managed by a settlementmanagement company 19, as shown in FIG. 1. The role of the server system25 is to automatically manage and process commercial or non-commercialtransactions, which are performed between the buyer 1 and supplier 5,and settlements pertaining to these transactions. This server system 25is capable of communicating with the buyer system 1, supplier system 5and banking systems 13, 15, via the Internet, a public switchedtelephone network, a dedicated communication network, or an electronicbanking system, or similar.

[0065] The server system 25 functions as a WWW server, for example, andsupplies a GUI screen (referred to as “calendar screen” hereinafter)(See FIGS. 3 and 4) displaying a calendar (a monthly or weekly all-dateschedule) to the buyer system 3. This calendar screen has functions tocollectively manage information on itemized statements of usage or oninvoices (referred to generically below as “invoices”) relating to avariety of commercial or non-commercial transactions performed by thebuyer 1, as well as to settlements (account deposits and withdrawals)pertaining to these transactions, and to automatically execute, inreal-time or with the appropriate timing, settlements for thesetransactions in accordance with the consent of the buyer 1. In thedescription that follows, the server system 25 is termed the “calendarserver”, as shown in FIG. 1.

[0066] The calendar server 25 supplies a GUI screen (See FIG. 10) and afunction to collectively manage information on invoices for a variety ofcommercial or non-commercial transactions performed by the supplier 5and on settlements pertaining to these transactions to therebyfacilitate understanding of the cash flow, to the supplier system 7. Thecalendar server 25 supplies a GUI screen (See FIG. 11) and a function tocollectively manage information relating to invoices which are settledusing the bank accounts handled by the financial institutions 9, 11,respectively, to the banking systems 13 and 15 respectively.

[0067] In reality, a multiplicity of buyers, a multiplicity ofsuppliers, and a multiplicity of financial institutions can utilize thecalendar server 25. However, in FIG. 1, in order to simplify thedescription, one buyer 1, one supplier 5, one financial institution 9,which handles one bank account of the buyer 1, and one financialinstitution 11, which handles one bank account of the supplier 5, areillustrated representatively.

[0068] The buyer 1 can be an individual or corporation. In the presentspecification, the term “buyer” is used generically to mean not only aparty that purchases a product or service, but also parties performing avariety of financial acts such as a party that pays taxes, a party thatpurchases or sells securities such as shares, a party that takes out aloan, or a party that repays a loan. An individual buyer is one exampleof the buyer 1. Examples for the buyer system 3 which can be usedinclude a personal computer 3 a, cellular telephone 3 b or a handheldterminal, which has an Internet connection function and has a WWWbrowser installed thereon, so as to be capable of accessing the calendarserver 25, accessing an electronic banking system, and so forth.

[0069] The supplier 5 can be an individual, a private company, or agovernment administration office. In the present specification, the term“supplier” is used to mean not only a party that sells a product orservice, but also a subject performing financial acts of any kind withrespect to the buyer, such as a government administration office thatlevies taxes, an agency for various transactions, a loans company, or afactoring company. Examples of suppliers include: a retail outlet orrestaurant selling products to the buyer, a securities company thatsupplies various financial services to the buyer, an insurance company,a credit company (credit card company or similar) and a loans company, afactoring company collecting payments from the buyer, the company orgovernment administration office which is the buyer's place of work, atelephone company and cellular telephone company supplying communicationservices to the buyer, a gas company supplying town gas and anelectricity company supplying electricity. Examples of the supplier alsoinclude a municipal public management company that runs water and sewageservices, an administrative facility that collects domestic taxes,municipal taxes and penalties, and a government administration office(such as a post office, for example) that performs a variety of publicservices.

[0070] The buyer 1 first makes an application to a settlement managementcompany 19 for a “settlement management service” agreement and, in sodoing, is then able to connect the buyer system 3 to the calendar server25 via the Internet. As a result, the buyer 1 is then able to downloadinvoices (that is, itemized statements of transactions or invoices) fromthe supplier 5 and deposit account deposit/withdrawal detailed statementfrom the financial institution 9 from the calendar server 25 to thebuyer system 3, collectively in the form of electronic data, and is ableto display a calendar screen (See FIGS. 3 and 4) which has thisinformation pasted thereon on the display apparatus of the buyer system3. In addition, when the buyer 1 inputs their approval of an invoicethat has been received by the buyer system 3, to the buyer system 3, apayment (account transfer) telegraphic message for this invoice isimmediately generated and sent to the banking system 13, whereby it ispossible to execute a settlement of this invoice in real-time or withthe appropriate timing. The buyer 1 pays a usage charge for a“settlement management service” to the settlement management company 19.The buyer 1 is able to designate a specific supplier 5 and specificfinancial institution 9 for which the “settlement management service” isadopted.

[0071] The buyer 1 uses the WWW browser installed on the buyer system 3in order to communicate with the calendar server 25 over the Internet.As a result of individual identification information for the buyer 1(ID, password, and the like) being sent from the buyer system 3 to thecalendar server 25, the calendar server 25 authorizes the buyer system 3to access data in a storage region for the buyer 1 which is in adatabase possessed by the calendar server 25. The database for the buyer1 stores invoices addressed to the buyer 1 which are received from thesupplier 5 and deposit/withdrawal detailed statement of the bank accountof the buyer 1 which are received from the financial institution 9. Thecalendar server 25 sends a specific monthly or weekly calendar screen(See FIGS. 3 and 4), which is selected by the buyer 1, to the WWWbrowser of the buyer system 3, such that this calendar screen isdisplayed thereby. In this calendar screen (See FIGS. 3 and 4), marks(icons or character strings) indicating invoices from the supplier 5 aswell as deposit/withdrawal detailed statement from the financialinstitution 9 are displayed in date fields that correspond to the datesof usage itemized statements or of invoices (receipt dates, for example)and to dates of deposit/withdrawal detailed statement (dates on whichdeposits and withdrawals are made, for example). In accordance with arequest from the buyer 1, the calendar server 25 is also capable ofsending a screen (See FIG. 7) that displays the detailed statement of anindividual invoice, or a screen (See FIG. 8) that displays the detailedstatement of the deposit passbook of the buyer 1, or similar, to thebuyer system 3, such that same is displayed thereby. When the buyer 1inputs their approval of an individual invoice displayed by the buyersystem 3, an account transfer telegraphic message requesting payment ofthis invoice is created and sent to the banking system 13 in real-timeor with the appropriate timing, whereby the banking system 13 executes asettlement of this invoice.

[0072] The supplier system 7 is capable of communicating with thecalendar server 25 via a predetermined communication network. When atransaction with the buyer 1 is successfully performed, the suppliersystem 7 transmits an electronic invoice addressed to the buyer 1relating to this transaction to the calendar server 25, in real-time orwith the appropriate timing. This electronic invoice contains, in apredetermined format, the customer's (buyer's) name, invoice number,customer's (buyer's) bank account number, invoice amount, status,payment deadline, inquiry number, the account to which the paymenttransfer is to be made, and EDI information (additional informationrequired to issue and receive this electronic invoice, such as a uniqueidentification code, for example), and the like.

[0073] The calendar server 25 stores an electronic invoice addressed tothe buyer 1, which is received from the supplier system 7, in thedatabase, and then performs processing, with respect to this electronicinvoice, for: notification (the buyer 1 is notified as a result of thepasting of a mark on the calendar screen), opening (the buyer 1 views ascreen which has the detailed statement of the invoice), a paymentrequest (notification from the banking system 13 to the effect thataccount transfer processing for payment of the invoice is to beperformed (or a request (notification) to the banking system 13 to theeffect that account transfer processing for payment of the invoice is tobe performed)), a payment completion confirmation (notification from thebanking system 13 to the effect that a deposit of the invoice amount hasbeen made to the supplier's bank account). When the calendar server 25performs processing such as that for the above-mentioned notification,opening, payment request, or payment completion confirmation, withrespect to the electronic invoice, the status of this electronic invoiceis updated to a “notified” status, “opened” status, “payment request inprogress” status, or “paid” status, or similar, in real-time or withpredetermined timing.

[0074] The supplier system 7 is capable of sending a request to thecalendar server 25 to search for electronic invoices by designating agiven invoice issue period and status. The calendar server 25 thensearches among the electronic invoices from the supplier system 7managed by the calendar server 25 for those invoices whose issue dateslie within the designated issue period and which currently have thedesignated status, and sends an invoice list screen (See FIG. 10)displaying the aforementioned invoices in the form of a list, to thesupplier system 7 such that these invoices are displayed thereby. Thisinvoice list screen (See FIG. 10) displays, for each electronic invoice,the customer's name, the invoice number, the customer's bank accountnumber, the invoice amount, the status, the status update time, thepayment deadline, the inquiry number, EDI identification information,and so forth. The “status” of each electronic invoice displayed by theinvoice list screen indicates the latest status of each electronicinvoice (“notified”, “opened”, “payment request in progress”, or“payment request made”, and so forth), and “status update time”indicates the date on which the status was updated to the latest status.

[0075] The supplier system 7 is capable of requesting, in advance, thatthe calendar server 25 notify the supplier system 7 of an update of theelectronic invoice status automatically and in real time. When a requesthas been made in this manner, even if the supplier system 7 is notactively connected to the calendar server 25, the calendar server 25automatically notifies the supplier system 7 of an update of the statusof the electronic invoice automatically and in real time. In eithercase, when the status of an invoice becomes the “payment complete”status, the supplier system 7 receives notification to that effect fromthe calendar server 25 in real time or with predetermined timing.

[0076] Because the banking systems 13, 15 communicate with the calendarserver 25, buyer system 3, or the supplier system 7, or similar, via anelectronic banking system, the calendar server is capable of performingbanking business tasks in accordance with a request from the buyersystem 3 or the supplier system 7. When the banking system 13, whichhandles the deposit account of the buyer 1, receives a telegraphicmessage from the supplier 7 to the buyer 1 requesting payment of aninvoice (an account transfer), this banking system uses the interbanksettlement system 17 to perform, in real time or with predeterminedtiming, processing to transfer money corresponding to the invoice amountfrom the deposit account of the buyer 1 to the deposit account of thesupplier 7 possessed by the banking system 15.

[0077] When the banking system 13, which handles the deposit account ofthe buyer 1, makes the invoice payment described above or, on differentgrounds, makes a withdrawal from or deposit to the deposit account ofthe buyer 1, this banking system 13 transmits an electronicdeposit/withdrawal itemized statement showing the detailed statement(s)of this deposit or withdrawal to the calendar server 25, in real-time orwith predetermined timing. These deposit/withdrawal detailed statementcontain, in a predetermined format, the customer's (buyer 1) name, thecustomer's bank account, the deposit/withdrawal date, thedeposit/withdrawal amount, item, summary, and EDI information(additional information required for sending and receiving theseelectronic deposit/withdrawal detailed statement such as a codeidentifying the paid invoice, for example). When the deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement indicate that payment of the invoice is complete, thecalendar server 25 is capable of specifying which invoice is the paidinvoice in accordance with the EDI information contained in thedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement, and of updating the status of thespecified invoice to “paid”.

[0078] The banking system 15, which handles the deposit account of thesupplier 5, is capable of issuing a request to the calendar server 25 tosearch for electronic invoices by designating an issue period andstatus, and the like. The calendar server 25 then retrieves thoseelectronic invoices which designate the deposit account of the supplier5 handled by the banking system (the banking system actually handles aplurality of deposit accounts of a plurality of suppliers) as theaccount to which the payment transfer is to be made, whose issue dateslie within the designated issue period, and which currently have thedesignated status. The calendar server 25 then sends an invoice listscreen displaying the aforementioned electronic invoices in the form ofa list (See FIG. 11) to the banking system 15 such that this invoicelist screen is displayed thereby. This invoice list screen displays (SeeFIG. 11), for each electronic invoice, the name of the invoicing company(supplier), the company code, the customer's (buyer's) name, thecustomer's bank account, the invoice amount, the status, the issue date,and the invoice (payment) deadline, and so forth. The respective“status” of the electronic invoices that are displayed in this screenindicates the latest state of the electronic invoices (“notified”,“opened”, “payment request in progress”, or “paid”), and the “statusupdate time” indicates the day on which the “status” was updated to thelatest status.

[0079] The calendar server 25 comprises a database that contains astorage region for the buyer 1. The storage region for the buyer 1stores electronic invoices addressed to the buyer 1 which are receivedfrom the supplier system 7, and deposit/withdrawal information for thedeposit account of the buyer 1 which is received from the banking system13, and so forth. Upon receiving electronic invoices ordeposit/withdrawal detailed statement, the calendar server 25 pastes theinvoice(s) or deposit/withdrawal detailed statement on theabove-described calendar screen (FIGS. 3 and 4) and, in addition to itbeing possible for the buyer 1 to read the invoice or deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement, same can be relayed to the buyer 1 using electronicmail.

[0080] As shown in FIG. 1, the calendar server 25 comprises an invoicemanagement section 27 and an accounts management section 29. The invoicemanagement section 27 communicates with the supplier system 7 and thebanking system 15 that handles the bank account of the supplier 5, andprincipally performs information processing with respect to electronicinvoices from the supplier 5. The accounts management section 29principally communicates with the buyer system 3 and the banking system13 that handles the bank account of the buyer 1, and principallyperforms information processing with respect to deposits and withdrawalsto and from the bank account of the buyer 1.

[0081]FIG. 2 shows the flow of electronic data in the processingperformed by the invoice management section 27 and the accountsmanagement section 29. This processing will be described with referenceto FIG. 2. Such processing is typically performed by running a computerprogram installed on the calendar server 25.

[0082] The processing which is performed by the invoice managementsection 27 includes (1) invoice registration processing, (2) invoiceopening and payment request notification processing, and (3) settlementinvoice removal processing.

[0083] (1) Invoice Registration Processing

[0084] When an electronic invoice addressed to the buyer 1 is issued bythe supplier system 7 (1-1), the invoice management section 27 receivesthis electronic invoice, registers same in the database of the invoicemanagement section 27 as an unsettled invoice (1-2), and manages thestatus of this electronic invoice as well as the payment deadlinethereof, and so forth. The invoice management section 27 transfers thiselectronic invoice to the accounts management section 29 (1-3).

[0085] (2) Invoice Opening and Payment Request Notification Processing

[0086] When the buyer 1 reads (opens) the detailed statement of a givenelectronic invoice, an opening notification is sent from the accountsmanagement section 29 to the invoice management section 27 (6-2). Uponreceiving this opening notification, the invoice management section 27updates the status of the electronic invoice to “opened” (2-1). When theinvoice management section 27 is requested by the supplier system 7 tosearch for this electronic invoice (or, in a case where an automaticnotification has been pre-requested, when the status of this electronicinvoice is updated to “opened”), the status of the electronic invoice(namely, “opened”) is communicated to the supplier system 7 (2-2). Whenthe fact that the buyer 1 has opened the electronic invoice is thuscommunicated to the supplier 5, this provides the supplier 5 with thelegal basis for adopting a legal summary debt collection procedure for abuyer 1 who appears unlikely to make payment.

[0087] When the banking system 13, which handles the bank account of thebuyer 1, is requested to pay a certain electronic invoice, notificationwith regard to the payment request for this electronic invoice is sentfrom the accounts management section 29 to the invoice managementsection 27 (6-9). Upon receiving this payment request notification, theinvoice management section 27 updates the status of the electronicinvoice to “payment request in progress” (2-3). When the invoicemanagement section 27 is requested by the supplier system 7 to searchfor this electronic invoice (or, in a case where an automaticnotification has been pre-requested, when the status of this electronicinvoice is updated to “payment request in progress”), the status of theelectronic invoice (namely, “payment request in progress”) iscommunicated to the supplier system 7 (2-4).

[0088] (3) Settlement Invoice Removal Processing

[0089] Upon receiving notification of the fact that the status of acertain electronic invoice is now “payment request in progress”, thesupplier 5 issues an inquiry to the banking system to inquire whether ornot the invoice amount of this invoice has been deposited in the depositaccount of the supplier 5 (3-1) (or the fact that the deposit has beenmade is relayed automatically from the banking system 15 to the suppliersystem 7). The detailed statement of a deposit to the bank account ofthe supplier 5, as confirmed by the banking system 15 through thisinquiry, are transferred not only from the banking system 15 to thesupplier system 7 (3-2), but also to the invoice management section 27(3-3). Upon receiving deposit detailed statement from the banking system15, the invoice management section 27 specifies the electronic invoicewhich corresponds to these deposit detailed statement, and, by updatingthe state of the electronic invoice thus specified to “paid”, thiselectronic invoice is automatically removed from the unsettled invoices(3-4). Then the status of this invoice (“paid”) is relayed to thesupplier system 7. By means of the above-described “paid” notification,the supplier 5 is able to retire a settled invoice in a straightforwardmanner and easily determine cash flow arising therefrom, facilitatingintegration with processing in connection with post-settlement actionssuch as shipping of product or the like.

[0090] The processing which is performed by the accounts managementsection 29 of the calendar server 25 includes (4) deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement automatic pasting processing, (5) invoice automaticpasting processing, (6) invoice opening and payment request notificationprocessing, (7) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automaticclassification processing, (8) deposit/withdrawal schedule automaticsetting processing, (9) settlement deposit/withdrawal schedule automaticremoval processing, (10) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automaticnotification processing, and (11) bank account electronic passbookprocessing.

[0091] (4) Deposit/Withdrawal Detailed Statement Automatic PastingProcessing

[0092] The accounts management section 29 receives deposit/withdrawalinformation on the bank account of the buyer 1 which is sent from thebanking system 13 via an electronic banking system 21 (4-1), and thenregisters data which this deposit/withdrawal information comprises (suchas the withdrawal date, invoice amount, payment deadline, issue date,EDI information, and a summary) in the database of the accountsmanagement section 29 (4-2). Then, upon displaying a monthly or weeklycalendar screen (See FIGS. 3 and 4) on the buyer system 3, the accountsmanagement section 29 pastes registered deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement data on the calendar screen (4-3). The buyer is thus able toascertain the records of deposits and withdrawals to and from his/herown bank account for each month or each week, from this calendar screen.

[0093] (5) Invoice Automatic Pasting Processing

[0094] The accounts management section 29 receives an electronic invoicewhich is sent from the supplier system 7 via the invoice managementsection 27 (1-1), acquires data from this electronic invoice with regardto the deposit/withdrawal schedule (such as the withdrawal date, invoiceamount, payment deadline, issue date, EDI information, and a summary),and then registers the data thus acquired in the database of theaccounts management section 29 (5-1). The accounts management section 29transfers this electronic invoice to the electronic banking system 21such that this electronic invoice is registered by the electronicbanking system 21 (5-4). Then, upon displaying a monthly or weeklycalendar screen (See FIGS. 3 and 4) on the buyer system 3, the accountsmanagement section 29 pastes registered data relating to thedeposit/withdrawal schedule for this electronic invoice on the calendarscreen (5-2). The buyer is able to ascertain the schedule for depositsand withdrawals to and from his/her own bank account for each month oreach week, from this calendar screen. Data relating to thedeposit/withdrawal schedules based on these electronic invoices, anddata relating to the deposit/withdrawal records based on theabove-described deposit/withdrawal detailed statement, are displayedtogether in this calendar screen (See FIGS. 3 and 4). The buyer is thusable to collectively manage a variety of invoices and the paymentprocedures with respect to these invoices.

[0095] Furthermore, when an electronic invoice reaches the accountsmanagement section 29 (5-1), the accounts management section 29 quicklynotifies the buyer system 3 of the arrival of this invoice (5-3). Inaddition, the accounts management section 29 transfers this electronicinvoice to the electronic banking system 21, whereupon the electronicbanking system 21 registers this electronic invoice (5-4).

[0096] (6) Invoice Opening and Payment Request Notification Processing

[0097] When requested by the buyer system 3 to read a certain electronicinvoice, the accounts management section 29 sends a screen displayingthe detailed statement of an electronic invoice registered in theelectronic banking system 21 (See FIG. 7) to the buyer system 3 (6-1).As a result, the buyer opens the electronic invoice and the accountsmanagement section 29 notifies the invoice management section 27 in realtime that the electronic invoice has been opened (6-2). As describedabove, notification of the opening of the invoice is sent from theinvoice management section 27 to the supplier system 7 (2-1, 2-2).

[0098] Further, when a certain electronic invoice in the buyer system 3is approved by the buyer (6-3), an account transfer telegraphic messagefor payment of this invoice is automatically created (6-4) and thisaccount transfer telegraphic message is sent to the banking system 13that handles the buyer's bank account (6-5). The banking system 13performs account transfer processing upon receiving this accounttransfer telegraphic message (6-6). Then, in this account transferprocessing, withdrawal detailed statement, which indicate the invoiceamount withdrawn from the bank account of the buyer 1, are sent to theaccounts management section 29 (6-7). The accounts management section 29registers these withdrawal detailed statement in the database of theaccounts management section 29 (6-8), and sends notification with regardto the payment request of this invoice to the invoice management section27 (6-9). As described above, this invoice payment request notificationis sent from the invoice management section 27 to the supplier system 7(2-3, 2-4).

[0099] The above-mentioned registered withdrawal detailed statement(6-8) are displayed by the buyer system 3 so as to be pasted on thecalendar screen by means of the above-described deposit/withdrawalinformation automatic pasting processing (5-2).

[0100] (7) Deposit/Withdrawal Detailed Statement AutomaticClassification Processing

[0101] The accounts management section 29 reads deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement for the past month or past week from the database ofthe accounts management section 29, and, based on optional itemsincluded in these deposit/withdrawal detailed statement (such as theitem, summary, or EDI information, for example), automaticallyclassifies these deposit/withdrawal detailed statement, and thendisplays the deposit/withdrawal detailed statement thus classified onthe buyer system 3.

[0102] (8) Deposit/Withdrawal Schedule Automatic Setting Processing

[0103] The accounts management section 29 uses the variety of itemsincluded in the deposit/withdrawal detailed statement classified in theabove deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automatic classificationprocessing (such as the date of the deposit/withdrawal, the amount, theitem, the summary and EDI information) to automatically set subsequent(the following month and subsequent months) deposit/withdrawal schedules(or semi-automatically in accordance with information supplementation asa result of manual inputs by the buyer). Further, the accountsmanagement section 29 registers the set deposit/withdrawal schedules forthe following month and subsequent months in the database of theaccounts management section 29, and, when displaying calendar screensfor the following month and subsequent months on the buyer system 3,pastes the deposit/withdrawal schedules for the following month andsubsequent months on these calendar screens. The schedules for depositsand withdrawals which are performed every month on the dates elected forthe automatic debiting of electricity charges and telephone charges aretherefore automatically set in the calendar screen on the basis of pastrecords.

[0104] Future deposit/withdrawal schedules can also be set entirely bymanual inputs by the buyer.

[0105] (9) Settlement Deposit/Withdrawal Schedule Automatic RemovalProcessing

[0106] Upon receiving deposit/withdrawal detailed statement from thebanking system 13 or 15 via the electronic banking system 21, theaccounts management section 29 retrieves the deposit/withdrawal schedulethat corresponds to the received deposit/withdrawal detailed statement(such as the deposit/withdrawal date, item, summary, and EDIinformation) from the database of the accounts management section 29(which schedule is a deposit/withdrawal schedule registered on the basisof the invoice in the above-described invoice automatic pastingprocessing, or a deposit/withdrawal schedule registered on the basis ofpast deposit/withdrawal detailed statement in the above-describeddeposit/withdrawal schedule automatic setting processing). Then, if thecorresponding deposit/withdrawal schedule is found, the accountsmanagement section 29 automatically removes the correspondingdeposit/withdrawal schedule by updating the status of thedeposit/withdrawal schedule to “paid”.

[0107] (10) Deposit/Withdrawal Detailed Statement Automatic NotificationProcessing

[0108] When performing the removing of the deposit/withdrawal scheduleby means of the settlement deposit/withdrawal schedule automatic removalprocessing, the accounts management section 29 automatically notifiesthe buyer system 3 of this removal. In cases where thedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement corresponding to thedeposit/withdrawal schedule do not arrive even when the scheduledsettlement date has passed, and in cases where unexpecteddeposit/withdrawal detailed statement arrive (deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement not corresponding to any deposit/withdrawalschedule), the accounts management section 29 automatically notifies thebuyer system 3. The buyer is able to designate, via the screen displayedby the buyer system 3, a condition such as whether or not the aboveautomatic notification is performed, or whether automatic notificationis performed in cases where any given kind of deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement is received.

[0109] (11) Bank Account Electronic Passbook Processing

[0110] The accounts management section 29 reads deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement of the buyer's bank account from the database of theaccounts management section 29, creates a bank account electronicpassbook screen (See FIG. 8) that displays these deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement as a list in which deposit/withdrawal dates arearranged in order, and then sends this bank account electronic passbookscreen to the buyer system 3 such that this screen is displayed thereby.The buyer system 3 downloads a data file, which is in a predeterminedformat, for the bank account electronic passbook screen, and is capableof incorporating this data file in an accounting application program.

[0111] The functions and operations of the system according to thepresent embodiment will be described more specifically hereinbelow.

[0112]FIG. 3 shows an example of a monthly calendar screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the buyer system 3.

[0113] As shown in FIG. 3, the calendar screen is divided into asecondary window 35 and a main window 37. Established in the secondarywindow 35 are: a menu region 35 a provided with “This week”, “Scheduleinput”, “Month display”, “Week display”, “Day display”, “Invoice list”,and “Electronic passbook display”, and other menus; a search region 35b, which is used at the time of conducting a keyword search; a region 35c displaying the calendar screen for the following month; and a “Returnto this month” menu 35 d.

[0114] A calendar having spaces for all the dates in the month which isdesignated by the buyer arranged therein is displayed in the main window37. This calendar displays invoices addressed to the buyer 1 which areissued by the supplier system 7, as well as deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement of the bank account of the buyer 1 which are sent by thebanking system 13; and marks (icons and character strings) indicatingdeposit/withdrawal schedules created automatically from pastdeposit/withdrawal records for the bank account of the buyer 1.

[0115] In FIG. 3, marks such as “C damage insurance”, “XY shop”, and “Zcompany”, for example, indicate invoices from the C damage insurance”,invoices from the XY shop, and invoices from the Z company respectively,and these marks are pasted in the spaces for dates received by thecalendar server 25. An icon (a vertical line in a square frame) thatprecedes the marks “C damage insurance” and “XY shop” indicates that thepayment has not yet been made, for example, and an icon (an X in asquare frame) that precedes the mark “Z shop” indicates that a paymentrequest is in progress or that the payment has been made, for example.

[0116] Also in FIG. 3, the mark “payment transfer” indicates that apayment (account transfer) has been performed for a certain invoice (aninvoice from the Z company, for example), and the corresponding icon (aminus sign in a square frame) signifies a withdrawal. This mark ispasted in the space for the date on which the payment (account transfer)is made. An additional mark that indicates the invoice to which thispayment transfer corresponds can also be added to this “paymenttransfer” mark.

[0117] Also, in FIG. 3, the marks “electricity charges”, “water supplycharges”, “cellular telephone service charges”, “telephone charges” and“gas charges”, for example, each indicate the withdrawal schedulesaccording to which these charges are paid, or a “paid” withdrawalrecord, for example. The icon (minus sign in a square frame) of thesemarks signifies a withdrawal. Also in FIG. 3, the marks “XX card” and“00 loan”, for example, represent a withdrawal schedule according towhich a card usage fee and loan repayments are paid to the XX cardcompany and 00 loans company respectively, or a “paid” withdrawalrecord. This withdrawal schedule or withdrawal detailed statement markis pasted in the space for the date scheduled for performing thewithdrawal or for the date on which the withdrawal is performed. Theicon (minus sign in a square frame) for this withdrawal schedule orwithdrawal record signifies a withdrawal. A distinction between thewithdrawal schedule and the withdrawal record can also be made by makingthe color or shape of the icons or character strings different.

[0118] Also in FIG. 3, the mark “Salary” indicates the deposit scheduleaccording to which a salary is deposited, or a “deposited” depositrecord. The icon (plus sign in a square frame) of this deposit scheduleor deposit record mark signifies a deposit. This deposit mark is pastedin the space for the date scheduled for making this deposit or for thedate on which this deposit is made. A distinction between the depositschedule and the deposit record can also be made by making the color orshape of the icons or character strings different.

[0119]FIG. 4 shows an example of a weekly calendar screen which isdisplayed by the buyer system 3.

[0120] The weekly calendar screen shown in FIG. 4 can be displayed byusing a pointing device to click on “This week” and/or “Week display”within the menu region 35 a of the monthly calendar screen shown in FIG.3. As shown in FIG. 4, the main window 37 of the weekly calendar screenhas the calendar for the week designated by the buyer displayed therein,and the spaces for each date in this calendar have a day/date space 37a, and a deposit/withdrawal schedule and record space 37 b. Displayed inthe deposit/withdrawal schedule and record space 37 b for each date areicons and character strings which indicate invoices received on thisdate, a schedule for a deposit/withdrawal scheduled for this date or arecord of a deposit/withdrawal that is performed on this date.

[0121]FIG. 5 shows an example of a daily calendar screen which isdisplayed by the buyer system 3.

[0122] The daily calendar screen shown in FIG. 5 can be displayed byusing a pointing device to click on the “Day display” menu within themenu region 35 a of the calendar screen shown in FIGS. 3 or 4. As shownin FIG. 5, the main window 37 of the daily calendar screen has thedetailed statement of the deposit/withdrawal performed on the daydesignated by the buyer, and a summary of the invoice received on thisday displayed therein. When, with respect to the displayed invoice, thebuyer clicks the “Details” button, the detailed statement of thisinvoice are displayed, and hence the buyer opens the invoice, and thestatus of the invoice managed by the calendar server 25 is updated to“opened”. When, with respect to a displayed invoice (only an unsettledinvoice), the buyer clicks on the “Payment” button, the buyer approvesthe invoice, and an account transfer telegraphic message for payment ofthis invoice is automatically created and sent to the banking system 13such that account transfer processing is automatically performed.

[0123]FIG. 6 shows an example of an invoice list screen which isdisplayed by the buyer system 3.

[0124] The invoice list screen shown in FIG. 6 can be displayed by usinga pointing device to click on the “Invoice list” menu within the menuregion 35 a of the screen shown in FIGS. 3, 4, or 5. As shown in FIG. 6,the main window 37 of the invoice list screen has a list that hassummaries for all of the invoices received in the month designated bythe buyer displayed therein. When, with respect to a displayed invoice,the buyer clicks the “Details” button, the detailed statement of thisinvoice are displayed, and hence the buyer opens the invoice, and thestatus of the invoice managed by the calendar server 25 is updated to“opened”. When, with respect to a displayed invoice (only an unsettledinvoice), the buyer clicks on the “Payment” button, the buyer approvesthe invoice, and an account transfer telegraphic message for payment ofthis invoice is automatically created and sent to the banking system 13such that account transfer processing is automatically performed.

[0125]FIG. 7 shows an example of the invoice detailed statement screenwhich is displayed by the buyer system 3.

[0126] The invoice detailed statement screen shown in FIG. 7 can bedisplayed by using a pointing device to click on the “Details” buttonwith respect to a certain invoice in the screen shown in FIG. 5 or FIG.6. This screen has detailed information on the invoice displayedtherein. When this invoice detailed statement screen is displayed, thebuyer opens the invoice, and the status of the invoice managed by thecalendar server 25 is updated to “opened”. When, with respect to adisplayed invoice (only an unsettled invoice), the buyer clicks on the“Payment” button 449, the buyer approves the invoice, and an accounttransfer telegraphic message for payment of this invoice isautomatically created and sent to the banking system 13 such thataccount transfer processing is automatically performed.

[0127]FIG. 8 shows an example of a bank account electronic passbookscreen which is displayed by the buyer system 3.

[0128] The electronic passbook screen shown in FIG. 8 can be displayedby using a pointing device to click on the “electronic passbook display”menu within the menu region 35 a of the screens displayed in FIGS. 3 to6. As shown in FIG. 8, the electronic passbook screen has detailedstatement of deposits and withdrawals to and from the buyer's depositaccount which are performed in the period designated by the buyerdisplayed therein so as to be arranged in the order of thedeposit/withdrawal date (such as the deposit/withdrawal date, the item,the payment amount, the deposit amount, the outstanding balance, and anyremarks). In short, those items which are the same as the content of thedeposit passbook are displayed. In a case where there is a disparitybetween the corresponding preset deposit/withdrawal schedule and theactual deposit/withdrawal record, this disparity is displayed in theremarks field 63. For example, in the example of FIG. 8, because, withrespect to cellular telephone charges, there is a disparity between thescheduled amount and the record amount, “scheduled amount disparity” isdisplayed. Clicking on “scheduled amount disparity” causes the box 65 toopen, in which a more detailed explanation for this disparity isdisplayed.

[0129]FIG. 9 shows an example of a deposit/withdrawal schedule settingscreen which is displayed by the buyer system 3.

[0130] The deposit/withdrawal schedule setting screen shown in FIG. 9can be displayed by using a pointing device to click on the “scheduleinput” menu within the menu region 35 a of the screen displayed in FIGS.3 to 6, and by the buyer then selecting an arbitrary deposit/withdrawalschedule from among those automatically created by the calendar server25 on the basis of past deposit/withdrawal detailed statement (orselecting a new schedule). The deposit/withdrawal schedule settingscreen shown in FIG. 9 is an example of a case where a withdrawalschedule for cellular telephone charges which has already been setautomatically is selected. Data for a withdrawal schedule automaticallyset by the calendar server 25 from past cellular telephone chargeswithdrawal records is automatically displayed in fields such as thosefor the item name 39, the transaction type 41, the item group 43, thetransaction date (date scheduled for a given type of withdrawal) 45, andthe amount 47, in the deposit/withdrawal schedule setting screen shownin FIG. 9. The buyer can also manually change these automatically setitems.

[0131] The buyer can also use a field for automatic notification 49 toset conditions for performing such automatic notification, in caseswhere a desire exists to issue an automatic notification from thecalendar server 25 to the buyer system 3 with regard to adeposit/withdrawal schedule set via this screen. In other words, if, inthe [option] field for advance notification 49 a, “Perform” is selectedand “On the day”, “the day before” or “two days before” is chosen,automatic notification with respect to this deposit/withdrawal scheduleis issued from the calendar server 25 to the buyer system 3 on the dayof the transaction date of this deposit/withdrawal schedule, or on theday before or two days before. Further, if, in the [option] field forsubsequent notification 49 b, “Perform” is selected and “notificationwhen amounts match” or “notification when amounts do not match” in“scheduled transaction successful” is selected, in a case wheredeposit/withdrawal information corresponding to this deposit/withdrawalschedule is sent by the banking system 13, automatic notification of anamount match or mismatch is issued from the calendar server 25 to thebuyer system 3 when the amount matches or does not match, respectively,the amount scheduled (when the amount does not match, this fact is alsodisplayed in the electronic passbook screen, as shown in FIG. 8).Furthermore, if, in the [option] field for subsequent notification 49 b,“Perform” is selected, and “display deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement amount and current outstanding balance” or “notificationregarding scheduled transaction” in “scheduled transaction notsuccessful” are selected, in a case where the deposit/withdrawalcorresponding to the deposit/withdrawal schedule cannot be executed dueto the fact that there are insufficient funds remaining in the buyer'sbank account, automatic notification is issued from the calendar server25 to the buyer system 3 with respect to the items thus selected.Further, if, in the [option] field for subsequent notification 49 b,“Perform” is selected, and “notification when an unscheduled transactionis present” is chosen, when deposit/withdrawal information that does notcorrespond to any deposit/withdrawal schedule is sent by the bankingsystem, automatic notification is issued from the calendar server 25 tothe buyer system 3 with respect to the deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement.

[0132]FIG. 10 shows an example of an invoice list screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the supplier system 7.

[0133] When the supplier system 7 issues a request to the calendarserver 25 to conduct a search for an electronic invoice by designatingan issue period and status, the calendar server 25 searches among theelectronic invoices from the supplier system 7 managed by the calendarserver 25 for those invoices whose issue dates lie within the designatedissue period and which currently have the designated status, and sendsan invoice list screen as in FIG. 10 displaying the aforementionedinvoices in the form of a list, to the supplier system 7 such that theseinvoices are displayed thereby. The invoice list screen shown in FIG. 10displays, for each electronic invoice, the customer's name, the invoicenumber, the customer's bank account number, the invoice amount, thestatus, the status update time, the payment deadline, the inquirynumber, EDI identification information, and so forth. The supplier isthus able to determine the latest status of each electronic invoice(“notified”, “opened”, “payment request in progress”, or payment requestmade”, and so forth). In this screen, when the supplier enters a checkmark in the cancellation box 41 for each invoice (only those invoiceswhich have not yet assumed a payment request made” status) and apointing device is used to click on the “cancellation processing” button42, the calendar server 25 cancels this invoice.

[0134]FIG. 11 shows an example of an invoice list screen which thecalendar server 25 supplies to the banking system 13 or 15.

[0135] When the banking system 13 or 15 issues a request to the calendarserver 25 to conduct a search for an electronic invoice by designatingan issue period and status, the calendar server 25 then retrieves thoseelectronic invoices which designate the deposit account handled by thebanking system 13 or 15 as the account to which the deposit is to bemade, whose issue date lies within the designated issue period, andwhich currently have the designated status. The calendar server 25 thensends an invoice list screen of the kind shown in FIG. 11 that displaysthe aforementioned electronic invoices in the form of a list to thebanking system 13 or 15 such that this list is displayed thereby. Theinvoice list screen shown in FIG. 11 displays, for each electronicinvoice, the name of the invoicing company (supplier), the company code,the customer's (buyer's) name, the customer's bank account, the invoiceamount, the status, the issue date, and the invoice (payment) deadline,and so forth. The financial institution is thus able to determine thelatest status of each electronic invoice (“notified”, “opened”, “paymentrequest in progress”, or “paid”, and so forth).

[0136]FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process flow that summarizes theoverall process flow of the system according to this embodiment.

[0137] In FIG. 12, the deposit/withdrawal detailed statement from thebanking system 13 are sent to the calendar server 25 and then registeredin the database of the calendar server 25 (step S71). Next, when thecalendar server 25 receives a request for an inquiry regarding theaccount transaction details from the buyer system 3, a calendar screen(See FIGS. 3 and 4) on which deposit/withdrawal detailed statement andinvoices received thus far are pasted is sent to the calendar server 25so as to be displayed thereby, whereupon access by the buyer system 3 tothis calendar screen is granted (step S72).

[0138] Invoices from the supplier system 7 which are for the buyer 1 aresent to the calendar server 25 via the communication network. Thecalendar server 25 acquires deposit/withdrawal schedule data from theseinvoices, registers this deposit/withdrawal schedule data in thedatabase (step S73), and transfers these invoices to the electronicbanking system. The calendar server 25 then notifies the buyer system 3that the invoices have been transmitted by the supplier system 7 (stepS74).

[0139] When a request for an inquiry with regard to the detailedstatement of a specific invoice is transmitted by the buyer system 3(step S75), the calendar server 25 sends an invoice detailed statementscreen, which displays the detailed statement of an invoice registeredon the electronic banking system, to the buyer system 3 such this screenis displayed thereby. This signifies an opening of the invoice by thebuyer 1. The calendar server 25 notifies the supplier system 7 that theinvoice has been opened by the buyer 1 (step S76).

[0140] Next, when the invoice is approved by the buyer 1 on the displayscreen of the buyer system 3, a payment request telegraphic message isautomatically created with respect to this invoice and is sent to thebanking system 13 via the electronic banking system, whereby the bankingsystem 13 is requested to perform a procedure to transfer the invoiceamount from the bank account of the buyer 1 to the bank account of thesupplier 5. An account transfer procedure is thus executed between thebanking systems 13, 15 via the interbank settlement system 17 (stepS77). Next, withdrawal detailed statement are transmitted from thebanking system 13 to the calendar server 25 (step S78), which forms thebasis for transmitting a payment request notification from the calendarserver 25 to the supplier system 7 (step S79).

[0141] Thereafter, when an inquiry relating to the supplier accountdeposit/withdrawal detailed statement is transmitted by the suppliersystem 7 to the banking system 15, the banking system 15 transmits thesupplier account deposit/withdrawal detailed statement to the suppliersystem 7 and the calendar server 25 (step S80). Upon receiving thesedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement, the supplier system 7 andcalendar server 25 both execute removal of the settled invoice fromunsettled invoices list on the basis of the received deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement, as described earlier (step S81).

[0142]FIG. 13 shows a process flow that summarizes (7)deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automatic classificationprocessing, (8) deposit/withdrawal schedule automatic settingprocessing, (9) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automatic removalprocessing, (10) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automaticnotification processing, and (11) bank account electronic passbookprocessing, which were described above and which are performed by thecalendar server 25.

[0143] In FIG. 13, when there is a request from the buyer system 3 fordeposit/withdrawal detailed statement automatic classification, thecalendar server 25 extracts and classifies past deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement pertaining to the buyer from the database (step S82),determines future deposit/withdrawal schedules on the basis of theclassification results, and automatically opens the deposit/withdrawalschedules on a calendar screen for the following month and subsequentmonths (step S83). Thereafter, when the buyer's accountdeposit/withdrawal detailed statement are transmitted by the bankingsystem 13 (step S84), the calendar server 25 searches for and extractsthe deposit/withdrawal schedules which correspond to the receiveddeposit/withdrawal detailed statement from the database, removes thethus located deposit/withdrawal schedules from the otherdeposit/withdrawal schedules in the database (step S85), andautomatically notifies the buyer system 3 of the removing (step S86).

[0144] Upon receiving a request from the buyer system 3 to display anelectronic passbook, the calendar server 25 reads out thedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement of the buyer's bank account fromthe database (step S87), presents these detailed statements on theelectronic passbook screen (See FIG. 8), and transmits this electronicpassbook screen to the buyer system 3 such that this screen is displayedthereby (step S88). Further, upon receiving a request from the buyersystem 3 to download deposit/withdrawal detailed statement (step S89),the calendar server 25 reads out the deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement of the buyer's bank account from the database, creates a fileof a predetermined format from these detailed statements, and sends thisfile to the buyer system 3 (step S90).

[0145]FIG. 14 shows the flow of (4) deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement automatic pasting processing performed by the calendar server25, which processing constitutes one part of the overall processingshown in FIG. 13.

[0146] In FIG. 14, upon receiving the deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement of the buyer's bank account from the banking system 13, thecalendar server 25 saves these detailed statements in the database (stepS91). Thereafter, upon receiving a request to display a calendar screenfor a certain month or week from the buyer system 3 (step S92), thecalendar server 25 reads out the deposit/withdrawal detailed statementof this month or week from the data base (step S93) and pastes thesedetailed statements on the calendar screen of this month or week (stepS94). (As shown in FIG. 15, the calendar server 25 also pastes invoicesreceived in this month or week on this calendar screen). The calendarserver 25 then transmits this calendar screen (See FIGS. 3 and 4) to thebuyer system 3 such that this screen is displayed thereby (step S95).

[0147]FIG. 15 shows the flow of (1) invoice registration processing and(5) invoice automatic paste processing performed by the calendar server25, which processing constitutes one part of the overall processingshown in FIG. 13.

[0148] In FIG. 15, upon receiving an invoice addressed to the buyer,from the supplier system 7, the calendar server 25 acquiresdeposit/withdrawal schedule data from the invoice and saves this data inthe database (step S96). Thereafter, the calendar server 25 notifies thebuyer system 3 that this invoice has been received (step S97).

[0149] Upon receiving a request from the buyer system 3 to display acalendar for a certain month or week (step S98), the calendar server 25reads out the deposit/withdrawal schedule data on the basis of theinvoices received in that month or week, from the database (step S99)and pastes this data on the calendar screen for that month or week (stepS100). (As shown in FIG. 14, the calendar server 25 also pastesdeposit/withdrawal detailed statement for that month or week on thiscalendar screen). The calendar server 25 then transmits this calendarscreen (See FIGS. 3 and 4) to the buyer system 3 such that this screenis displayed thereby (step S101).

[0150]FIG. 16 shows the flow of (2) and (6), which are namely invoiceopening processing and payment request notification processingrespectively, as well as (3) settlement invoice removal processing,which are performed by the calendar server 25, which processingconstitutes one part of the overall processing shown in FIG. 13.

[0151] In FIG. 16, upon receiving an invoice addressed to the buyer,from the supplier system 7, the calendar server 25 acquiresdeposit/withdrawal schedule data from the invoice and saves this data inthe database (step S102). The calendar server 25 also transfers thisinvoice to the electronic banking system (step S102-2). The calendarserver 25 then sends notification that this invoice has been received tothe buyer system 3 (step S103). This notification contains depositaccount information, invoice amount information, EDI information, and soforth.

[0152] When a request is made by the buyer system 3 for confirmation ofthe detailed statement of an invoice, the detailed statement of theinvoice, which are stored by the electronic banking system, are sent tothe buyer system 3 and displayed thereby, whereupon the calendar server25 receives notification regarding this confirmation of invoice detailedstatement (step S104). The calendar server 25 then sends notificationregarding the opening of the invoice to the supplier system 7 (stepS105).

[0153] Further, when the buyer 1 inputs his or her approval of theinvoice to the buyer system 3, a payment (account transfer) telegraphicmessage is transmitted from the buyer system 3 to the banking system 13(step S106), and the banking system 13 performs processing for atransfer from the buyer's bank account to the supplier's bank accountusing the interbank settlement system 17 (step S107) (the processing ofsteps S106 and S107 can also be carried out via the calendar server 25).The banking system 13 transmits withdrawal detailed statement of thebuyer's bank account for this account transfer to the calendar server 25(step S108). Upon receiving these withdrawal detailed statement, thecalendar server 25 changes the status of the invoice to “payment requestin progress”, and notifies the supplier system 7 and the buyer system 3of this status change (the buyer system 3 pastes an icon indicating thatthe payment request is in progress to the mark for this invoice on thecalendar screen) (step S109).

[0154] When the supplier system 7 issues a request to the banking system15 to confirm the detailed statement of the deposit to the supplier'sbank account for payment of a certain invoice, the banking system 15sends these deposit detailed statement to the supplier system 7 and thecalendar server 25 (step S110). Then, on the basis of the depositdetailed statement from the banking system 15, the calendar server 25removes the settled invoice from unsettled invoices (step S111), and thesupplier system 7 also removes the settled invoice (step S112).

[0155]FIG. 17 shows the flow of (7) deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement automatic classification processing and (8) deposit/withdrawalschedule automatic setting processing, which are performed by thecalendar server 25, which processing constitutes one part of theprocessing shown in FIG. 14.

[0156] In FIG. 17, upon receiving a request from the buyer system 3 forautomatic classification of deposit/withdrawal detailed statement of apast period (corresponding to one month or a number of months) which isdesignated by the buyer, the calendar server 25 classifies thedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement of the buyer's bank accountpertaining to this designated past period, which are in the database, onthe basis of items such as the item, the transaction type, and thetransaction date, and determines future deposit/withdrawal schedules onthe basis of the classified deposit/withdrawal detailed statement. Thecalendar server 25 then creates a deposit/withdrawal schedule settingscreen as shown in FIG. 9 with respect to each deposit/withdrawalschedule (step S131), and sends the deposit/withdrawal schedule settingscreen to the buyer system 3 such that this screen is displayed thereby(steps S131-2).

[0157] The buyer changes the detailed statement of deposit/withdrawalschedules according to requirements, and/or performs automaticnotification setting according to requirements (steps S131-3), and soforth, via the deposit/withdrawal schedule setting screen, whereupon thedeposit/withdrawal schedules which have been confirmed by the buyer aresent from the buyer system 3 to the calendar server 25 (steps S131-4).

[0158] The calendar server 25 pastes the confirmed deposit/withdrawalschedules onto the calendar screens for this month and the followingmonth (See FIGS. 3 and 4) (step S132). The calendar server 25 transmitsthis calendar screen for that month or the following month to the buyersystem 3 (step S133).

[0159]FIG. 18 shows the flow of (9) deposit/withdrawal schedule removalprocessing, and (10) deposit/withdrawal detailed statement automaticnotification processing, which are performed by the calendar server 25,which processing constitutes one part of the processing shown in FIG.14.

[0160] In FIG. 18, upon receiving the deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement of the buyer's bank account from the banking system 13, thecalendar server 25 stores these detailed statements in the database(step S134). Thereafter, the calendar server 25 searches for andextracts the deposit/withdrawal schedules which correspond to thereceived deposit/withdrawal detailed statement from the database,removes the corresponding deposit/withdrawal schedules thus located, andupdates the status of the invoices which correspond to thesedeposit/withdrawal schedules to “payment request in progress” (stepS135). The calendar server 25 then automatically notifies the buyersystem 3 of the result of step S135 (step S136).

[0161]FIG. 19 shows the flow of (11) bank account electronic passbookprocessing, which is performed by the calendar server 25, whichprocessing constitutes one part of the processing shown in FIG. 14.

[0162] In FIG. 19, the buyer 1 makes a request to the calendar server 25via the buyer system 3 to display a bank account electronic passbook(step S221), whereupon the calendar server 25 reads out thedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement of the buyer's bank account fromthe database (step S222), presents these deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement in date order on the electronic passbook screen, as shown inFIG. 8, and transmits this electronic passbook screen to the buyersystem 3 (step S223).

[0163] Further, upon receiving a request from the buyer system 3 todownload deposit/withdrawal detailed statement (step S224), the calendarserver 25 reads out information of the deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement of the buyer's bank account from the database, creates a fileof a predetermined format from these detailed statements, and downloadsthis file to the buyer system 3 (step S225). Upon receiving this file ofthe deposit/withdrawal detailed statement, the buyer system 3 is capableof incorporating this deposit/withdrawal detailed statement file intohousehold budget application software or similar in the buyer system 3(step S226).

[0164] The operation of the system according to the present embodimentwas described above. The operation described hereinabove can basicallybe applied irrespective of what kind of company or governmentadministration office the supplier is. However, in cases where thesupplier is a securities company, a loans company, or a factoringcompany, it is also possible to perform an operation, as describedbelow, which is slightly different from that described above.

[0165]FIG. 20 shows a process flow that summarizes another overalloperation which the system of this embodiment is capable of performingwhen the supplier is a securities company.

[0166] In FIG. 20, when an order to purchase share certificates, orsecurities of a public bonds company, is inputted by the buyer to thesupplier (securities company) system 7 (directly or via the calendarserver 25), the calendar server 25 receives an invoice relating to thissecurities purchase from the securities company system 7, and storesdeposit/withdrawal schedule data based on this invoice in the database(step S137). The calendar server 25 then registers this invoice in theelectronic banking system. The calendar server 25 then notifies thebuyer system 3 of the detailed statement of this invoice (step S138).Upon receiving notification from the buyer system 3 that the detailedstatement of this invoice have been confirmed and acknowledged, thecalendar server 25 sends a telegraphic message to the banking system 13requesting the transfer of the invoice amount from the buyer's bankaccount to the bank account of the securities company (step S139), and,at the same time, transmits notification to the securities companysystem 7 that the invoice has been opened by the buyer 1 (step S141).

[0167] After receiving the account transfer request telegraphic message,the banking system 13 uses the interbank settlement system 17 to performthe account transfer processing (step S140) Further, upon receiving thisopening notification, the securities company system 7 puts thesecurities purchase order from the buyer on the securities market.

[0168] The above processing from the time the buyer makes an order untilthe time when this order is put on the securities market is executedelectronically in an extremely short time, meaning that there is no riskof the buyer missing out on an opportunity to purchase securities as aresult of fluctuations in the market.

[0169] When the above account transfer processing is performed, thebanking system 13 transmits the withdrawal detailed statement of thebuyer's bank account, which result from this account transfer, to thecalendar server 25, whereupon the calendar server 25 transmits a paymentrequest notification with regard to this invoice to the securitiescompany system 7.

[0170] Thereafter, when a request for a deposit detailed statementinquiry regarding this invoice is issued by the securities companysystem 7 to the banking system 15 (step S142), the banking system 15sends the deposit detailed statement to the calendar server 25 and thesecurities company system 7, and the calendar server 25 and securitiescompany system 7 then remove this invoice on the basis of the depositdetailed statement (step S143).

[0171]FIG. 21 shows a process flow that summarizes yet another overalloperation which the system of this embodiment is capable of performingwhen the supplier is a loans company.

[0172] In FIG. 21, upon receiving an inquiry from the buyer with regardto a buyer loan via the buyer system 3 (step S167), the calendar server25 transmits the detailed statement of the loan transaction, such as theamount of money loaned, and the repayment schedule, to the buyer system3 (step S168).

[0173] Further, the calendar server 25 receives an invoice relating torepayment of the loan, from the supplier (loans company) system 7,stores this invoice (step S169), and notifies the buyer system 3 thatthis invoice has arrived (step S170). When the buyer confirms theinvoice detailed statement on the buyer system 3, the calendar server 25receives notification from the buyer system 3 regarding confirmation andapproval of the invoice detailed statement (step S171). The calendarserver 25 then transmits a transfer request telegraphic message forrepayments from the buyer's bank account to the loan company's bankaccount, to the banking system 13 (step S172), and transmitsnotification that this invoice has been opened by the buyer to the loanscompany system 7 (step S174).

[0174] Upon receiving the transfer request telegraphic message, thebanking system 13 performs this transfer processing using the interbanksettlement system 17 (step S173). When this transfer processing isperformed, the banking system 13 transmits withdrawal detailed statementof the buyer's bank account which result from this account transfer tothe calendar server 25, and, by way of response, the calendar server 25transmits a payment request notification to the loans company system 7.

[0175] Thereafter, when a request for a deposit detailed statementinquiry regarding this invoice is issued by the loans company system 7to the banking system 15 (step S175), the banking system 15 sends thedeposit detailed statement to the calendar server 25 and the loanscompany system 7, and the calendar server 25 and loans company system 7then remove this invoice on the basis of the deposit detailed statement(step S176).

[0176]FIG. 22 showing the constitution of the transaction and settlementmanagement system according to the present invention in a case where afactoring company is present as one kind of supplier.

[0177] The factoring company 99 purchases accounts obligation rightsfrom a certain supplier 5 that owns accounts obligation rights withrespect to the buyer 1 and uses the calendar server 25 to collect theaccounts charges from the buyer 1. A computer system (factoring system)97 of the factoring company 99 is capable of communicating with thesupplier system 7 and the calendar server 25 via a predeterminedcommunication network. A collection system 98 is capable ofcommunicating with the banking system 13 that takes charge of thebuyer's bank account and the banking system 15 that takes charge of thebank account of the factoring company 99.

[0178]FIG. 23 shows a process flow that summarizes the overallprocessing of the system of FIG. 22.

[0179] In FIG. 23, the supplier system 7 transmits an electronic invoicethat is addressed to the buyer 1 to the factoring system 97, and issuesa collection request to the factoring system 97 (step S244). Thefactoring system 97 transmits this invoice to the calendar server 25 inreal time or with predetermined timing (step S245). The calendar server25 stores the invoice received from the factoring system 97 in thedatabase, and transmits the invoice detailed statement to the buyersystem 3 such that the detailed statement are displayed thereby (stepS246). The invoice detailed statement which are thus sent to the buyersystem 3 include information on the bank account to which the deposit ismade, and information on the invoice amount.

[0180] When the buyer 1 confirms and approves the detailed statement ofthe invoice displayed on the buyer system 3 (step S247), the calendarserver 25 transmits a collection request for payment of this invoice tothe banking system 15, which handles the bank account of the factoringcompany 99 (step S248). The banking system 15 uses the collection system98 to perform collection processing which involves transferring theinvoice amount from the buyer's bank account of the banking system 13 tothe factoring company's bank account of the banking system 15 (stepS249).

[0181] When the above-mentioned collection processing is complete, thebanking system 15 transmits a collection completion notification in realtime or with predetermined timing to the calendar server 25. Uponreceiving this collection completion notification, the calendar server25 removes this invoice in the database (that is, updates the status ofthis invoice to “paid”), and sends this collection completionnotification to the factoring system 97 (step S250).

[0182] Furthermore, the calendar server 25 receives withdrawal detailedstatement (s) of the buyer's bank account which result from thecollection processing from the banking system 13, registers thesewithdrawal detailed statements in the database, and sends a collectioncompletion notification on the basis of these withdrawal detailedstatements to the buyer system 3 in real time or with predeterminedtiming (step S251).

[0183] The system of the embodiment described above is an illustrativeexample serving to describe the present invention. The transaction andsettlement management system according to the present invention can alsobe used for a variety of applications other than the above embodiment.For example, the transaction and settlement management system accordingto the present invention can also be applied to the management of fundsnot only in a deposit account provided at a bank but also a depositaccount provided in an insurance company, a deposit account provided ina securities company, and so forth. Further, the detailed statement ofan electronic invoice can be stored not only by the electronic bankingsystem 21 but also by the calendar server 25. The calendar server 25 oranother system can automatically create a payment transfer telegraphicmessage on the basis of the above electronic invoice (when electronicdata for performing the payment transfer such as the payment transferamount, for example, is entered via a screen displaying the electronicdata, a payment transfer is automatically performed from a desired bankaccount to another desired bank account). Also, the supplier system 7acquires an electronic invoice, and is able to use this electronicinvoice (data indicating the payment deadline which is contained in theinvoice, for example) to infer the scheduled deposit date (for example,if the payment deadline is Jan. 10, 2001, the scheduled deposit date isdetermined as being Jan. 10, 2001, or a date that is based on the pastdeposit/withdrawal history for the buyer 1 (January, 8, 2001, which istwo days before the payment deadline, for example) can be determined asbeing the scheduled deposit date). Further, the buyer system 3 acquiresthe electronic invoice and is able to use the electronic invoice (dataindicating the payment deadline which is contained in the invoice, forexample) to infer the scheduled withdrawal date (for example, if thepayment deadline is Jan. 10, 2001, the scheduled withdrawal date isdetermined as being Jan. 10, 2001, or a date that is based on the pastdeposit/withdrawal history for the buyer 1 (January, 8, 2001, which istwo days before the payment deadline, for example) can be determined asbeing the scheduled withdrawal date). In other words, the supplier 5 andthe buyer 1 are able to easily establish an estimate for the cash flow.

[0184] A description follows for a transaction, settlement and newsmanagement system according to yet another embodiment of the presentinvention.

[0185]FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing the overall constitution of thetransaction, settlement, and news management system according to thisembodiment.

[0186] As shown in FIG. 24, a supplier system 301, an electronic mall303, a banking system 305, buyer system 307, and a calendar server 309are all connected so as to be capable of communicating with one anothervia the Internet or similar. In reality, there is a multiplicity ofsupplier systems, electronic malls, banking systems, and buyer systems,but only one of each is shown representatively in FIG. 24.

[0187] The supplier system 301 transmits an electronic invoice addressedto the buyer (containing, for example, personal information on the buyer(name, address, telephone number, date of birth, and so forth), aninvoice number, the date for an automatic debit or the payment deadline,the invoice amount, the buyer's bank account number, the supplier's bankaccount number, and EDI information, and so forth) to the banking system305 and the calendar server 309. The supplier system 301 also transmitsinformation (referred to as “news” hereinbelow) which the supplierwishes to relay to the buyer, such as advertisements for services,products, and the like, which are provided by the supplier, and the URLof the supplier's home page or non-commercial advertisements, to thecalendar server 309. The news contains the content of the news, the timeconditions for communicating the news to the buyer (fixed display date),buyer conditions for communicating the news (target), as well asinformation such as the area and type of the content of this news.

[0188] The electronic mall 303 is a system for supplying the buyer withso-called “on-line shopping services” in relation to a variety ofproducts (this signifies services as well as goods). When the buyerpurchases a product by shopping on-line, the electronicmall 303transmits an electronic invoice (containing, for example, personalinformation on the buyer (the buyer's name, address, telephone number,date of birth, and so forth), an invoice number, the date for anautomatic debit or the payment deadline, the invoice amount, the buyer'sbank account number, the supplier's bank account number, and so forth)to the banking system 305 and the calendar server 309. Further, whenorder, settlement, or dispatch processing is complete, the electronicmall 303 transmits an electronic mail to that effect to the calendarserver 309, such that when the buyer accesses the calendar server 309,the fact that the order, settlement or dispatch processing is completeis communicated to the buyer in the form of a message from the calendarserver 309 to the buyer.

[0189] The banking system 305 manages the buyer's deposit account. Thebanking system 305 performs deposit/withdrawal processing with respectto the buyer's bank account on the basis of a request telegraphicmessage from the supplier system 301 or the electronic mall 303, andtransmits electronic deposit/withdrawal detailed statement (including,for example, the item, the deposit/withdrawal date, thedeposit/withdrawal amount, the outstanding balance, a summary, EDIinformation, and so forth) to the calendar server 309. The bankingsystem 305 transmits information which the bank wishes to relay to thebuyer (also referred to as “news” hereinafter), such as advertisementsfor various financial products, financial services, and the like,provided by the bank, the URL of the bank's home page, or non-commercialadvertisements, to the calendar server 309. The news contains thecontent of the news, the time conditions for communicating the news tothe buyer (fixed display date), buyer conditions for communicating thenews (target), as well as information such as the area and type of thecontent of this news.

[0190] Furthermore, the banking system 305 is connected to an electronicbanking system such as an Internet banking system and is capable ofsupplying on-line banking services such as an outstanding balanceinquiry, a deposit/withdrawal detailed statement inquiry, and an accounttransfer, to the buyer system 7. The banking system 305 also provides abutton which is for access (a jump) to the calendar server 309 and whichis on a GUI screen with which the buyer system 307 using the electronicbanking system is provided. Thus, when the buyer uses a pointing deviceto click on this button on the GUI screen of the banking system 305which is displayed by the buyer system 307, the buyer system 307 isconnected to the calendar server 309.

[0191] The buyer system 307 is, for example, a personal computer, acellular telephone, a PDA, or the like, which has a function permittingaccess to various servers on the Internet (typically containing anInternet connection function and a WWW browser), but the buyer system307 is not limited to or by this illustrative example. By using thebuyer system 307, the buyer is capable of accessing the electronicmall303 to shop online or of accessing the banking system 305 via theelectronic banking system to make an outstanding balance inquiry, adeposit/withdrawal detailed statement inquiry, or an account transfer,or similar.

[0192] As will be described in detail subsequently, as a result of usingthe buyer system 307 to thereby access the calendar server 309, thebuyer is also capable of reading invoices sent by the supplier system301 and the electronic mall 303, as well as deposit/withdrawalinformation on the buyer's bank account sent by the banking system 305,of sending requests for payment of these invoices to the banking system305, and also of reading a variety of news sent from the supplier system301, the electronic mall 303, and the banking system 305.

[0193] A variety of methods can be adopted as the method permitting thebuyer to access the calendar server 309 by using the buyer system 307,such as a method for making a jump to the calendar server 309 from theGUI screen displayed at the time of logging on to the electronic bankingsystem of the banking system 305, a method for directly accessing thecalendar server 309, and a method for making a jump from the home pageof the supplier to the calendar server 309, and so forth.

[0194] The calendar server 309 supplies the buyer system 307 with twocalendar screens which are exclusive to the buyer (See FIGS. 25, 26, 32,33, and 34). One of these calendar screens (See FIGS. 25 and 26) iscalled the “Account management calendar”, and the second calendar screen(See FIGS. 32, 33, and 34) is called the “News calendar”.

[0195] The supplier system 301 pastes electronic invoices addressed tothe buyer, and deposit/withdrawal detailed statement on the buyer's bankaccount, which are sent by the electronic mall 303 and the bankingsystem 305 respectively, on the account management calendar (FIGS. 25and 26). The supplier system 301 pastes news selected by the calendarserver 309 in accordance with the consumption trends of the buyer fromthe news which is sent by the electronic mall 303 and the banking system305, on the news calendar (FIGS. 32, 33, and 34).

[0196] The calendar server 309 infers the schedules which have an impacton the consumption trends of the buyer from the invoices addressed tothe buyer and the deposit/withdrawal detailed statement on the buyer'sbank account thus received (such as the account balance, futuredeposit/withdrawal schedules, time deposit maturity schedules, forexample) (referred to hereinafter as “buyer schedules”), and storesthese schedules in the database. The calendar server 309 also storesschedules for the habitual events of the company or for seasonal events(such as Christmas, national holidays, consecutive holidays, vacationperiods, for example), as buyer schedules that have an impact on thebuyer's consumption trends (such as presents, travel, productpurchasing, for example) in the database. The calendar server 309further accepts inputs from the buyer of schedules for the personalevents of the buyer (such as birthdays, vehicle safety inspections,celebrations, familial ceremonial occasions, insurance maturity,contract renewals, travel, for example) via the buyer system 307, andalso stores these personal event schedules inputted by the buyer asbuyer schedules that have an impact on the buyer's consumption trends.

[0197] The calendar server 309 also selects news related to theabove-mentioned buyer schedules from a variety of news which is storedon the database (such as advertisements for gift products with respectto present schedules, advertisements for travel services with respect totravel schedules, advertisements for vehicles with respect to vehiclesafety inspections, or advertisements for more favorable loans withrespect to scheduled loan repayment dates for example), or, statedotherwise, news following the buyer's consumption trends. The calendarserver 309 also optimally determines the respective notification datesfor the selected news (the dates on which this news is communicated tothe buyer) on the basis of the above buyer schedules. For example, thenotification date for each news item is determined as being a date thatprecedes the buyer schedule corresponding to this news by an appropriateperiod (such as a date that is one month before a scheduled presentdate, two months before a scheduled travel date, the day of a scheduledvehicle safety inspection date, or two months before a scheduled loanrepayment date, for example). The calendar server 309 then supplies thisselected news to the buyer system 307 by pasting this news in the spacesfor the notification dates of this news, on the above-mentioned newscalendar (FIGS. 32, 33, and 34).

[0198] In order to perform the processing described above, the calendarserver 309 comprises a deposit/withdrawal detailed statement storagesection 311, an invoice storage section 312, a news storage section 313,a buyer schedule storage section 315, an information storage processingcontrol section 317, and a calendar display control section 319, asshown in FIG. 24. These components 311 to 319 of the calendar server 309are typically implemented by a computer program.

[0199] The deposit/withdrawal detailed statement storage section 311stores deposit/withdrawal detailed statement of the buyer's bank accountwhich are received from the banking system 305. The invoice storagesection 312 stores invoices addressed to the buyer which are receivedfrom the supplier system 301 and the electronic mall 303. The newsstorage section 313 stores a variety of news received from the suppliersystem 301, electronic mall 303 and banking system 305. The buyerschedule storage section 315 stores the variety of buyer schedulesdescribed above.

[0200] The information storage processing control section 317discriminates between the invoices, deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement, and news received from the supplier system 301, electronicmall 303 and banking system 305 to thereby store the invoices,deposit/withdrawal detailed statement, and news in the invoice storagesection 312, the deposit/withdrawal detailed statement storage section311, and the news storage section 313 respectively.

[0201] The calendar display control section 319 supplies the buyersystem 307 with the above-described account management calendar and newscalendar, as well as a few other GUI screens. When displaying theaccount management calendar on the buyer system 307, the calendardisplay control section 319 reads out related deposit/withdrawaldetailed statement from the deposit/withdrawal detailed statementstorage section 311 and related invoices from the invoice storagesection 312, and pastes these deposit/withdrawal detailed statement andinvoices in the corresponding date spaces on the account managementcalendar. Also, when displaying the news calendar, the calendar displaycontrol section 319 reads out buyer schedules from the buyer schedulestorage section 315 (such as scheduled loan repayment dates, timedeposit maturity dates, birthdays, scheduled vehicle safety inspectiondates, scheduled celebration dates, scheduled travel dates, Christmas,scheduled vacation periods, for example), extracts news related to thesebuyer schedules from the news storage section 313, optimally determinesnotification dates for the extracted news on the basis of thecorresponding buyer schedule dates, and then inserts the extracted newsin notification date spaces on the news calendar.

[0202] Furthermore, in accordance with a request from the buyer system307, the calendar display control section 319 provides the buyer system307 with a screen for inputting the personal event schedules of thebuyer, and stores those event schedules which are entered by the buyerin this screen in the buyer schedule storage section 315.

[0203] In addition, upon receiving an invoice addressed to the buyer inthe form of an electronic mail or the like from the supplier system 301or electronic mall 303, the calendar display control section 319displays this fact on the GUI screen of the buyer system 307.

[0204] A description follows for a variety of GUI screens which thecalendar display control section 319 supplies to the buyer system 307.

[0205]FIG. 25 shows the constitution of a main screen which the calendardisplay control section 319 supplies to the buyer system 307.

[0206] The main screen 321 comprises a menu area 323 and a calendar area325.

[0207] Displayed by the menu area 323 are: a “Month display” menu 329, a“Week display” menu 331, a “Day display” menu 333, and an “Electronicpassbook” menu 335, and arrows that indicate which display method hasbeen selected. When a pointing device such as a mouse or a pen tablet isused to click on the “Month display” menu 329 on the main screen 321,the monthly account management calendar or news calendar is displayed.Further, clicking on the “Week display” menu 331 displays the weeklyaccount management calendar or news calendar, and clicking on the “Daydisplay” menu 333 displays the invoices and deposit/withdrawalinformation pertaining to the day designated on the account managementcalendar or news calendar with a certain degree of detail. Also, the actof clicking on the “Electronic passbook” menu 335 displays the contentsof the deposit passbook for the buyer's bank account on the main screen321.

[0208] Provided in the calendar area 325 are an account managementcalendar tab 337, a news calendar tab 339, and a date display area 341.The act of clicking on the account management calendar tab 337 displaysthe account management calendar 400 of the account management calendararea 326 in the foreground, and clicking on the news calendar tab 339displays the news calendar 411 of the news calendar area 363 in theforeground (See FIG. 32). As will be described subsequently, the datedisplay area 341 displays the date in the form that corresponds to thedisplay method which is selected by the buyer, that is, that correspondsto the month display, week display, or day display.

[0209] Clicking on the account management calendar tab 337 and the“Month display” menu 329 on the main screen 321 causes the calendardisplay control section 319 to display the date in the date display area341 in the form which corresponds to the month display, and to displaythe account management calendar 400 for the current month or the monthdesignated by the buyer in the account management calendar area 326, asshown in FIG. 25.

[0210] Selecting “Month display” causes the current date (this is “Jun.26, 2000” here) or the date designated by the buyer, as well as a yearand month designation menu 343 allowing the buyer to designate thedesired year and month, to be displayed in the date display area 341.The year and month designation menu 343 displays a “January” to“December” menu, which is for designating the desired month in the yearbeing currently displayed, a “Previous year” menu, which is fordesignating the year which immediately precedes the year being currentlydisplayed, and a “Following year” menu for designating the year whichfollows the year being currently displayed. The fact that the characters“June” of the year and month designation menu 343 are framed by a squareindicates that June is the month being displayed currently.

[0211] Marks (icons and character strings) that indicatedeposit/withdrawal detailed statement and deposit/withdrawal schedulesof the buyer's bank account, as well as invoices addressed to the buyer,for June 2000, are all pasted in spaces for deposit/withdrawal dates andinvoice receipt dates, in the monthly account management calendar, suchas the account management calendar 400 for June 2000 which isillustrated, for example. The marks are constituted by icons andcharacter strings. For example, the icon “− (minus sign)” is pasted onmarks for withdrawal detailed statement such as those of an automaticdebit, a cash withdrawal, and the like, and the icon “+ (plus sign)” ispasted on marks for deposit detailed statement such as those of a salarypayment transfer. Further, the icon “!” is attached to invoices forwhich a withdrawal schedule has failed due to an insufficientoutstanding balance and to invoices whose payment deadline has passed,the icon “paid” is attached to those invoices which have been paid, andthe icon “unpaid” is attached to those invoices whose payment deadlinehas not passed and to invoices which are unpaid, for example.

[0212] The buyer is able to attain an overview of his or her owndeposit/withdrawal detailed statement status or invoice status in June2000 from this account management calendar 400 at a glance. For example,the buyer is able to grasp at a glance that: on June 1 (Thursday),automatic debits for water supply charges and electricity charges weremade; on June 2 (Friday), a cash withdrawal was made; on June 5(Monday), a gas charge automatic debit and a payment transfer to thebuyer's own bank account were performed; June 6 (Tuesday) is a paymentdeadline and a payment for cellular telephone charges has not yet beenmade, and, on June 6 (Tuesday), an automatic debit for a paid TV (PTV)license fee was made; on June 7 (Wednesday), a cash withdrawal was made;on June 9 (Friday), a salary payment transfer was performed; on June 12(Monday), an ABC card loan automatic debit was made; June 21 (Wednesday)was the payment deadline for an invoice amount for a T-shirt purchasedat the electronic mall 303 and that the corresponding payment transferhas already been made; and June 28 (Wednesday) was the payment deadlinefor an invoice amount for sneakers purchased at the electronic mall 303but that the payment transfer for this amount has not yet been made (thefield for June 26 in the account management calendar 400 in the figureis displayed with oblique lines to indicate that this is the currentdate).

[0213] As detailed above, bank account (electronic passbook) informationand invoices are displayed on the calendar, and, from the buyer's pointof view, the cash flow can be easily managed not only on a daily basisbut also on a monthly and a weekly basis, and more easily seen than whendisplayed simply as a list, as in an electronic passbook.

[0214] Although not illustrated, when invoices are sent to the calendarserver 309 by electronic mail or similar from the supplier system 301 orthe electronic mall 303, a message to that effect (such as “an invoicehas been inserted in the account management calendar for July” forexample) is displayed in real time or with predetermined timing in apredetermined location on the main screen 321. This is convenient onaccount of saving the buyer the trouble of searching for mail relatingto an invoice or itemized statement of usage among a wide variety ofinformation received by electronic mail (information from friends,acquaintances, and family, company- and work-related information, directmail, and so forth).

[0215] If the buyer performs a predetermined operation in the mainscreen 321 which is displayed by the monthly account management calendar400 shown in FIG. 25, bank account (passbook) information and invoicescan be displayed in more detail. For example, clicking on the “Weekdisplay” menu 331 after designating any of the fields June 4 to June 10in the account management calendar 400, in the main screen 321 shown inFIG. 25 (or clicking on the “Week display” menu 334 to the left of theJune 4 field in the account management calendar 400) displays theaccount management calendar relating to the week June 4 to June 10 inthe account management calendar area 326.

[0216]FIG. 26 shows an example of a main screen displayed by the weeklyaccount management calendar.

[0217] In FIG. 26, the date is displayed in the date display area 341 inthe form that corresponds to the week display. For example, asillustrated in this figure, the week June 4 to June 10 designated by thebuyer, and a week select menu 345, are displayed. All the weeks May 28to June 3, June 4 to June 10, June 18 to June 24, and June 25 to July 1in “June”, which is the month relating to the week designated by thebuyer, are displayed in the week select menu 345, for example. If thebuyer designates (clicks on) a desired week from among these weeks, thebank account information and invoices which related to the desired weekare displayed in the account management calendar area 326.

[0218] The deposit/withdrawal detailed statement and invoices relatingto the week June 4 to June 10 designated by the buyer are displayed inthe account management calendar area 326 in more detail than in a monthdisplay. For example, “Date and Day”, “Item (summary) name”, and“transaction amount/invoice amount” of the deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement and invoices relating to that week are displayed.

[0219] When the buyer clicks on the space for a desired date (June 6,for example) and then clicks on the day display menu 333 (ordouble-clicks on the space for June 6 in the weekly account managementcalendar), in the weekly account management calendar shown in FIG. 26,the daily (namely June 6) account management calendar is displayed inthe account management calendar area 326 (the daily account managementcalendar can also be displayed by designating the desired date space inthe monthly account management calendar and then clicking on the daydisplay menu 333).

[0220]FIG. 27 shows an example of a main screen displayed by the dailyaccount management calendar.

[0221] As shown in FIG. 27, deposit/withdrawal detailed statement andinvoices for the date (Jun. 6, 2000, for example) designated by thebuyer are displayed with a certain degree of detail in the accountmanagement calendar area 326. For example, where a “PTV license fee” forwhich an automatic debit has been completed is concerned, the“deposit/withdrawal detailed statement” information displayed includesbank account (passbook) information for when the corresponding automaticdebit is performed (“[empty circle] [cross] bank, Yoyosu branch,ordinary deposit account, account number: 0123456”, for example), the“item name (PTV license fee)” of the transaction, the “transactionamount (2640 yen)”, and the “outstanding balance (348240 yen, forexample)” after the transaction (automatic debit). Further, with regardto “cellular telephone charges” for which invoice notification isperformed because an automatic debit cannot be made, the “company name(the AA mobile communications network, for example)”, the “service name(abcd, for example)”, the “invoice number (012345, for example)”, the“invoice deadline (Jun. 30, 2000, for example)”, the “invoice amount(11915 yen) “, for example, for this invoice, are displayed along with apayment button 347.

[0222] When the buyer clicks on the payment button 347, the main screen321 switches to the screen shown in FIG. 28.

[0223]FIG. 28 shows an example of a main screen that appears when aswitch between screens is made upon clicking on the payment button 347for a certain invoice in the daily account management calendar shown inFIG. 27, which main screen shows the detailed statement of this invoice.

[0224] As shown in FIG. 28, the contents of this invoice are shown inthe most detail (to include a breakdown of the invoice amount, and soforth, for example) in the account management calendar area 326, alongwith a payment button 349. When the buyer clicks on the payment button349, the main screen 321 switches to the screen shown in FIG. 29.

[0225]FIG. 29 shows an example of a main screen that appears when aswitch between screens is made upon clicking on the payment button 349on the main screen in FIG. 28 and that is for the selection of a paymentaccount.

[0226] As shown in FIG. 29, a “payment transfer bank account selection”menu 350 is displayed in the account management calendar area 326 alongwith a payment button 351. The “branch name”, “item”, “bank accountnumber”, “outstanding balance”, and the “outstanding balancedetermination date and time”, are displayed in the payment transfer bankaccount selection menu 350 in the form of a list, for all the buyer'sdeposit accounts which are pre-registered in the calendar 309. Aradiobutton is appended to the display for each bank account.

[0227] The buyer selects a desired bank account whose outstandingbalance is equal to or more than the invoice amount by clicking on thecorresponding radio button (353, for example), and then clicks on thepayment button 351. The main screen 321 shown in FIG. 29 then switchesto the payment condition confirmation screen shown in FIG. 30.

[0228] As shown in FIG. 30, the account management calendar area 326displays information on the buyer's bank account which is the source ofthe payment, information on the supplier's bank account to which thepayment is to be made, and the payment conditions such as the paymentamount. The account management calendar area 326 also displays an inputarea for the PIN number of the buyer's bank account, and a paymentbutton 355.

[0229] Once these payment conditions have been confirmed by the buyer,the buyer enters the PIN number of the buyer's bank account and thenclicks on the payment button 355. This operation results in a payment(account transfer) request telegraphic message being automatically sentto the bank 305 and in the execution of payment processing.

[0230] According to the account management calendar described above, thebuyer deposit/withdrawal detailed statement and an invoice summary, aswell as the status of the invoice (“unpaid”, “paid”, “deadline passed”,and the like), are displayed in corresponding date spaces. Furthermore,unpaid invoices can be paid by means of an exceedingly simple operationsuch as by clicking with a pointing device.

[0231] If the buyer clicks on the “electronic passbook” menu 335displayed in the display method selection menu area 323, in the mainscreen 321 illustrated by way of example in FIGS. 25 to 30, anelectronic passbook in which past deposit/withdrawal detailed statementof the buyer's bank account are displayed as a list in date order isdisplayed as shown in FIG. 31.

[0232] Further, when the buyer clicks on the news calendar tab 339 inthe main screen 321 shown by way of example in FIGS. 25 to 30, the newscalendar 411 shown by way of example in FIG. 32 is displayed in theforeground.

[0233]FIG. 32 shows an example of a main screen displaying a monthlynews calendar.

[0234] As shown in FIG. 32, the news calendar area 363 is placed in theforeground, and the monthly news calendar 411 is displayed therein.

[0235] When a buyer schedule window 365 is opened, buyer schedules,which are read out from the buyer schedule storage section 315, aredisplayed therein as a list in date order. For example, “eldestdaughter's Coming of Age ceremony (January 15)” is displayed in thefield for January, “hot spring (February 10 to February 14)” isdisplayed in the field for February, “second daughter's junior highschool entrance ceremony (April 3)” is displayed in the field for April,“business trip (May 20 to May 23)” is displayed in the field for May,“vehicle safety inspection (June 19), “lease renewal (June 9), and“refurbishment (June 29)” are displayed in the field for June, “seconddaughter's birthday (July 12)” and “wedding ceremony (July 4),” aredisplayed in the field for July, and “Christmas (December 25)” isdisplayed in the field for December.

[0236] The buyer schedule window 365 also displays a scheduleregistration button 367. If the buyer clicks on the scheduleregistration button 367, the event schedule registration screen shown byway of example in FIG. 35 is displayed. The buyer is then able to freelyinput his or her own event schedule via this event schedule registrationscreen. This process will be described subsequently.

[0237] News related to buyer schedules, which is extracted by thecalendar display control section 319 from the news storage section 313is pasted on the news calendar 411 shown in FIG. 32, and marksindicating each news item (character strings that provide a summary ofthis news, for example) are displayed in the date spaces in which eachnews item is pasted. The dates to which the news items are pasted aredates that precede the respective dates of buyer schedules correspondingto each news item by a predetermined period (such as 0 days before, oneday before, one week before, one month before, or two months before, forexample). This predetermined period is a value which is contained as theabove-described period condition (display period) in the news data whichthe calendar server 309 receives from the supplier system 301, theelectronic mall 303, or the banking system 305.

[0238] For example, as shown in FIG. 32, for the buyer schedule “weddingceremony (July 4)”, the news “wedding ceremony card loan information”and “gift information” related to the wedding ceremony is inserted inthe space for June 4 in the news calendar which precedes the date June 4by one month. This period condition for a display one month before is avalue that is contained in the data of “wedding ceremony card loaninformation” and “gift information”. Furthermore, for the buyer schedule“second daughter's birthday (July 12)”, the news “Presents girls like”is inserted in the space for June 12 in the news calendar which precedesJuly 12 by one month. This period condition for a display one monthbefore is a value that is contained in the data “Presents girls like”.For a buyer event based on the deposit/withdrawal detailed statementthat a loan repayment automatic debit from the buyer's bank account isto be made on the twelfth of each month, the news “loan conversioninformation” is inserted in the field for June 12 in the news calendar.Also, for the buyer event “vehicle safety inspection (June 19)”, newssuch as “[Empty circle] [cross] loan information”, “new vehicleinformation”, and “reasonably priced secondhand vehicle information”,which serves to support major expenses incurred by vehicle safetyinspections, is inserted in the field for June 19 in the news calendarof the same day. This period condition for a display the same day is avalue that is contained in”[Empty circle] [cross] loan information”,“new vehicle information”, and “reasonably priced secondhand vehicleinformation”.

[0239] When the buyer wishes to learn more details about the newsinserted in this news calendar 411, the buyer is able to switch themonthly news calendar to a weekly or daily news calendar.

[0240]FIG. 33 shows an example of a main screen displaying a weekly newscalendar.

[0241] The weekly news calendar 413 shown in FIG. 33 relates to the weekJune 18 (Sunday) to June 24 (Saturday). In addition to a news summary(”[Empty circle][cross] loan information”, “new vehicle information”,and “reasonably priced secondhand vehicle information”, for example), asimple description of each news item, the URL of a home page related toeach news item, and so forth, are inserted in the field for June 19(Monday) in this news calendar 413. If the buyer clicks on a desired URLamong these inserted URLs, the home page of this URL can be displayed.

[0242] For example, clicking on the URL “https://www.[Emptycircle][cross] bank.co.jp/loandirect/” of “[Empty circle] [cross] loaninformation”, in FIG. 33, displays the home page 471 that containsinformation relating to the [Empty circle][cross] loan, as shown in FIG.34.

[0243] As described above, the news is inserted in spaces for dates onthe news calendar that are determined on the basis of buyer schedules.The timing for displaying this news can also be suitably established.For example, the news “wedding ceremony card loan information”, which isdisplayed in the field for June 4 in the news calendar 411 of FIG. 32,can also be displayed first when it is June 4, or can be displayed on anearlier date (immediately after an event, namely that of the weddingceremony on July 4, is inputted, for example).

[0244]FIGS. 35 and 36 both show an example of the event scheduleregistration screen.

[0245] As stated earlier, this event schedule registration screen isdisplayed as a result of the buyer clicking on the schedule registrationbutton 367 in the buyer schedule window 365 shown in FIGS. 33 or 34.

[0246] The event attributes, such as the “date”, “title”, “personsconcerned”, “event area”, and the “event type”, for example, can beentered in this event schedule registration screen 373.

[0247] In other words, the buyer enters dates for the start and end ofthis event as “dates”. An arbitrary character string such as the name ofthis event or a summary thereof can be entered as the “title” (thecharacter strings inputted as “titles” can be displayed as a list in thebuyer schedule window 365). As the “persons concerned”, the attributesof the people associated with the event (such as a person's relationshipwith the buyer, gender, age, for example) can be entered. A broadcategory to which the event belongs (such as “business”, “leisure”,“sport”, “interests”, “travel”, “car/motorbike”, “residence” or“celebration”, for example) can be entered as the “event area”.

[0248] Clicking on the OK button 375 after making the inputs from “date”to “event area” described above displays a list of more detailedcategories (event types) that fall under the broad category selected in“event area”, along with a keyword input field 377, in an event typearea 374. It is possible to select an arbitrary detailed category orenter an arbitrary keyword as the “event type” in this event type area374.

[0249] After the inputting of all of the items for the event attributesis complete, the buyer clicks on the registration button 379. An eventthus inputted in the event schedule registration screen 373 is stored inthe buyer schedule storage section 315 as one buyer schedule.

[0250]FIG. 37 shows the flow of processing performed by the calendarserver 309 to select and display news following buyer consumption trendsas described above.

[0251] In the buyer schedule registration processing shown in FIG. 37,the calendar server 309 displays an event schedule registration screenas shown by way of example in FIGS. 35 and 36 on the buyer system 307and accepts inputs by the buyer of attributes such as the event date andtitle, the persons concerned, and the event area and type (step S301).The calendar server 309 then registers the event attributes inputted bythe buyer in the database (the buyer schedule storage section 315) as abuyer schedule (steps S302 and S303). Further, although not shown inFIG. 37, the calendar server 309 infers a time deposit/withdrawalschedule on the basis of the received deposit/withdrawal detailedstatement of the buyer's bank account, this schedule also beingregistered as a buyer schedule in the database (buyer schedule storagesection 315). Moreover, though not shown in FIG. 37, the calendar server309 also registers the habitual practices of the company in the databaseas buyer schedules (buyer schedule storage section 315).

[0252] Also in the news registration processing shown in FIG. 37, thecalendar server 309 receives news data from the supplier system 301, theelectronic mall 303 and the banking system 305 (step S311), andregisters the received news data in the database (news storage section313) (steps S312 and S313). The data of each news item contains the newscontent, the fixed display date (that is, the period condition thatdesignates by what period the notification date is to precede the eventdate), the target, the event area and type, and the like).

[0253] In the news display processing shown in FIG. 37, the calendarserver 309 reads out buyer schedules generated in a predetermined period(one year from the current year, for example) from the database (buyerschedule storage section 315) and displays these schedules as a list inthe buyer schedule calendar server 309 then reads out the news whichpossesses conditions matching the attributes of these buyer schedulesfrom the database (news storage section 313) and determines the datesfor the notification of each news item from the dates in the buyerschedules that match each news item and the period conditions for eachnews item. The calendar server 309 then pastes the news which possessesnotification dates that fall within the period (such as a specificmonth, week, or day, for example) according to which the news calendaris to be displayed, in the spaces for the notification dates of the newscalendar, and displays this news calendar on the buyer system 307 (stepS322).

[0254] As described hereinabove, according to the news calendar 411 ofthis embodiment, the buyer is provided with news that follows thebuyer's consumption trends at an appropriate time before the consumptionactually occurs. The buyer is thus able to utilize the news effectively.The supplier can effectively link the provision of this news with thesale of a product or service.

[0255] The preferred embodiments of the present invention were describedhereinabove, but such embodiments are illustrations that serve toexplain the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe present invention to these embodiments. The present invention canalso be implemented in a variety of other forms without departing fromthe spirit of the present invention.

1. A method for managing transactions and settlements using: a suppliersystem used by a supplier for issuing electronic invoices; a buyersystem used by a buyer for receiving electronic invoices; a financesystem for managing a bank account of the supplier and a bank account ofthe buyer and for performing deposit/withdrawal processing of the bankaccounts; a server system communicably connected to the supplier system,buyer system and finance system through a communications network;characterized in comprising the steps in which: the server systemreceives electronic invoices from the supplier system to register theinvoices into a specified database; the server system or buyer systemreceives a payment request for the electronic invoices from the buyer;the server system receives a notification of deposit/withdrawalprocessing acknowledging. that the deposit/withdrawal processing for theelectronic invoices had been performed or a deposit/withdrawal statementbased on a result of the deposit/withdrawal processing, from the financesystem; the server system manages the status of the registeredelectronic invoices by updating the status of the electronic invoices inresponse to the payment request issued from the buyer as well as to thenotification of deposit/withdrawal processing or the deposit/withdrawalstatement issued from the finance system, respectively; and the serversystem notifies the supplier system of the status of the managedelectronic invoices.
 2. The method according to claim 1, characterizedin that the server system further comprises the step of notifying thebuyer system or finance system of the managed status of the electronicinvoices.
 3. The method of managing the transactions and settlements ofthe buyer system according to claim 1, characterized in furthercomprising the steps in which: the server system sends a GUI screen tothe buyer system for showing the buyer the content of electronicinvoices in the specified database, and for having the buyer input thepayment request for the electronic invoices, and causes the buyer systemto display the GUI screen; the server system or buyer system, respondingto the payment request for the electronic invoices inputted by the buyerto the GUI screen displayed by the buyer system, regarding the displayedelectronic invoices, receives the buyer's payment request to prepare andsend the electronic payment request for the electronic invoices to thefinance system; and the server system, in response to that theelectronic payment request has been sent to the finance system, updatesthe status of the electronic invoices when the payment request is inprogress and sends the payment-request-in-progress to the suppliersystem.
 4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that theserver system further comprises the step of providing the suppliersystem, buyer system or finance system with a GUI screen displaying thestatus of a plurality of the electronic invoices on a list.
 5. In amanagement system for transactions and settlements comprising: asupplier system used by a supplier for issuing invoices; a buyer systemused by a buyer for receiving invoices; a finance system for managing abank account of the supplier and a bank account of the buyer and forperforming deposit/withdrawal processing of the bank accounts; and aserver system communicably connected to the supplier system, buyersystem and finance system through a communications network; wherein,upon receiving an electronic payment request with an identification codefor electronic invoices, the finance system is capable of performingdeposit/withdrawal processing for the payment of the electronic invoicesand sending an electronic deposit/withdrawal statement having theidentification code to the server system and supplier system, the servercomprising: means for receiving electronic invoices from the suppliersystem; means for registering the received electronic invoices into aspecified database; means for receiving a payment request for theelectronic invoices from the buyer; means for receiving a notificationof deposit/withdrawal processing acknowledging that thedeposit/withdrawal processing for the electronic invoices had beenperformed or a deposit/withdrawal statement based on a result of thedeposit/withdrawal processing, from the finance system; means formanaging the status of the registered electronic invoices by updatingthe status of the electronic invoices in response to the payment requestissued from the buyer as well as to the notification ofdeposit/withdrawal processing or the deposit/withdrawal statement issuedfrom the finance system, respectively; and means for notifying thesupplier system of the status of the managed electronic invoices.
 6. Ina management system for transactions and settlements comprising: asupplier system used by a supplier for issuing invoices; a buyer systemused by a buyer for receiving invoices; a finance system for managing abank account of the supplier and a bank account of the buyer and forperforming deposit/withdrawal processing of the bank accounts; and aserver system communicably connected to the supplier system, buyersystem and finance system through a communications network; wherein,upon receiving an electronic payment request with an identification codefor electronic invoices, the finance system is capable of performingdeposit/withdrawal processing for the payment of the electronic invoicesand sending an electronic deposit/withdrawal statement having theidentification code to the server system and supplier system, a computerprogram for activating a computer as the server and for causing thecomputer to execute the following steps of: receiving electronicinvoices from the supplier system; registering the received electronicinvoices into a specified database; receiving a payment request for theelectronic invoices from the buyer; receiving a notification ofdeposit/withdrawal processing acknowledging that the deposit/withdrawalprocessing for the electronic invoices had been performed or adeposit/withdrawal statement based on a result of the deposit/withdrawalprocessing, from the finance system; managing the status of theregistered electronic invoices by updating the status of the electronicinvoices in response to the payment request issued from the buyer aswell as to the notification of deposit/withdrawal processing or thedeposit/withdrawal statement issued from the finance system,respectively; and notifying the supplier system of the status of themanaged electronic invoices.